DURBAN – AS high-profile companies halt operations as a result of the recent looting and unrest, an upbeat South African Breweries (SAB) has called for renewed resilience.
“The cumulative impact of destruction filters into thousands of township businesses ranging from liquor stores, taverns, distributors, restaurants, security services and cleaners to logistics companies, who have been left utterly devastated by last week’s unrest,” the company said.
SAB said the country was well on its way to economic recovery following the devastating impact of Covid-19, and the latest unrest would hamper the efforts made thus far.
“Even though we were struggling with high unemployment, this violence is a further setback to progress. As an organisation we have been bold in playing our part, as evidenced by our future investment plans of R2 billion for the 2022 fiscal year. Now, not only does our economy have to recover from the impact of an ongoing global pandemic with a slow vaccination roll-out, we now have the rampant destruction of businesses and infrastructure to contend with,” said SAB.
“However, we also believe that every business, community and citizen has a role to play in helping us rebuild and recover. Now is the time to come together. Now is the time for peace. Now is the time for our humanity to endure. We’ve done it before, and we can do it again. We need to rebuild and prove not only to the world, but to ourselves, that we are better than this. We will all be judged by our actions, so let them speak volumes in the weeks, months and years ahead.”
Looting had affected SAB’s Pietermaritzburg depot and “countless” distributors, which was compounded, said the company, by the four total alcohol bans, which further threatened people’s lives and livelihoods and the sustainability of the industry.
THE MERCURY