Impounded booze trucks not in contravention of lockdown rules, says SAB
South African Breweries (SAB) has denied that the five trucks which were impounded on Wednesday were in contravention of lockdown regulations.
The trucks were pulled off the road during two separate Covid-19 operations.
They were found to be transporting alcohol, which is not permitted during the 21-day lockdown period.
The company’s Syreeta van Rooyen says the trucks were moving the alcoholan off-site storage facility as their warehouse was packed to capacity.
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"We can confirm that it is aware of the arrests of seven of its employees, two third-party drivers, as well as the impounding of various loads on the morning of 8 April.
"The alcohol in transit at the time arrest and seizure was packaged inventory which had to be moved to a SAB-owned offsite storage facility as our warehouse storage capacity at the breweries had reached permissible limits.
"The alcohol seized was not for sale or distribution and was always in SAB’s possession. Further to this, permission to transport a portion of our packed inventory had been obtained and SAB continues to operate within the confines of the law.”
Van Rooyen says the arrested employees are being assisted by the company’slegal team.
"We are committed to complying with the Disaster Management Act and the lockdown regulations.
"As an organisation, we are here to play our part not only in fighting the pandemic, but in protecting the wellbeing of our communities, our employees, and our contributions towards the economy.”