Coronavirus: South Africans rush to liquor stores as booze ban lifts

SOWETO - Scores of people lined up outside liquor stores in South Africa's township of Soweto on Monday , waiting to buy drinks for the first time in nine weeks after a ban on alcohol sales was lifted.

The mood was festive in Soweto, on the outskirts of Johannesburg, where customers carrying crates of empty beer bottles waited out the meandering lines, some stationed in their cars, blasting loud music from their stereos."This place is jamming," he exclaimed, adding that celebrations were expected throughout the township."It has been a while since I had a taste of that foam and burping I am here so early to satisfy my habit," he said.

'TRAUMATISING' BLACK MARKET As shop doors opened at 9am , customers queueing in face masks were ordered to keep a safe distance from one another and allowed one small group to enter at a time.South Africans still harboured mixed feelings about the controversial booze ban, which caused black market sales to flourish.

But for 22-year-old Asenathi Faleni, a self-confessed"serious drinker", the government's decision to shutter the alcohol market was a brilliant idea. However an ongoing ban on cigarette sales remains a thorny issue, with the country's biggest tobacco producer British American Tobacco South Africa launching legal proceedings against the government last week.

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