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SAB lays off 550 temporary workers as national restriction on liquor sales bites

Details

sabmillerBusiness Times reports that more than 500 staff of SA Breweries (SAB) received their last pay cheque on Friday after the company suspended their employment due to the national ban on the sale of alcohol.  

SAB, owned by global brewer AB InBev, confirmed that it had suspended the contracts of 550 temporary workers indefinitely and with immediate effect.  This will reduce SAB’s current workforce to 5,357.  The staff will receive no income during the suspension of their contracts, including from the Unemployment Insurance Fund as they are contract workers.  Zoleka Lisa, vice-president of corporate affairs at SAB, said:  “The third alcohol ban has resulted in reduced demand for temporary workers’ skills.  This is no fault of their own but rather a result of the current operating environment.  We realise the impact this decision will have on 550 families who will sadly have to go without because of the uncertainty of the alcohol ban.”  The government has banned the sale of alcohol three times since a national lockdown was announced in late March 2020 in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19.  SAB has also cancelled R5bn in investments as a result of the bans, and the coronavirus pandemic has seen all employees’ salaries cut by 10%, which will continue until the end of 2021.  Lisa advised that no retrenchments have been made as yet.  It was reported last week that competitor Heineken had cut its staff of 1,000 by 7%.  SAB is currently awaiting the government’s response to its application in the Western Cape High Court to have the ban set aside.

  • Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jane Steinacker and Nick Wilson at BusinessLive (paywall access only)


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