Lives versus livelihoods: South African adults’ perspectives on the alcohol ban during the COVID-19 lockdown

ABSTRACT

Background

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africa implemented a national lockdown including a ban on the sale of alcohol. This paper describes adults’ perspectives on this alcohol ban, focusing on whether they support or oppose this regulation.

Methods

As part of a longitudinal study that documents South African’s experiences of the COVID-19 lockdown, qualitative data were collected from 49 adults and analyzed thematically.

Results

Perspectives are framed around the overarching theme of “lives versus livelihoods,” presented as support and/or opposition to the ban. Participants who endorsed the ban, as preserving “lives,” thought that it facilitated social distancing and therefore limited the spread of COVID-19. Those who opposed the ban suggested that it undermined the “livelihoods” of South Africans, in the context of an already-strained economy.

Conclusion

Our findings show that decisions around whether to support or oppose the alcohol ban were informed by critical reflections on the wider socio-behavioral and health implications of such regulations. Further implications are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Alcohol ban
• COVID-19
• South Africa
• public opinion
• qualitative

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Centre for Community Based Research at the Human Sciences Research Council. Researchers would also like to acknowledge the support of the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development towards this publication. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at, are those of the authors and are not necessarily to be attributed to the CoE in Human Development.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.