Alcohol organisation warns against hiking excise tax during Budget Speech

JOHANNESBURG - The National Liquor Traders Organisation has called on Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana not to raise excise tax when he presents his Budget Speech on Wednesday.

The group said it realised that the minister had a tough job in balancing competing demands but said raising excise taxes was not an option.

It said the alcohol value supply chain supported almost a million livelihoods and the impact of COVID-19 and the alcohol bans had left deep scars.

Convenor Lucky Ntimane said increasing excise tax also did not stop people from drinking.

He said the industry estimated that it would take up to five years to get back to the operational levels of 2019 - before the pandemic.