Beer taps of South African Brewery brands as seen at a closed bar in Cape Town, South Africa. SAB says it may dump 400m bottles of beer due to a ban on alcohol sales in SA. Photo / AP
South African Breweries, one of the world's largest brewers, says it may have to destroy 400 million bottles of beer as a result of the country's ban on alcohol sales that is part of its lockdown measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
South Africa stopped all sales of
alcohol when its lockdown came into effect on March 27 and the brewery has seen beer pile up at its production facilities. The brewer is seeking special permission from government to move the beer to other storage facilities. The transport of alcohol has also been outlawed in South Africa.
SAB told news station eNCA on Thursday that if it's not able to move the beer, which amounts to about 130 million litres, it'll be forced to "discard" it at a loss of about $8 million. That loss would put 2000 jobs at risk, SAB said.
It would also be frustrating news for millions of thirsty South African beer drinkers who are going without.
