Johannesburg - As Swaziland enters the third week of a national beer shortage, a person has advertised a single 750ml bottle of Castle-brand beer at a cost of R180 or “best offer”.
“He’ll make a sale. Someone will buy it just to say they bought the world’s most expensive bottle of Castle beer. Or they may be desperate. There are no more bottles of beer in Swaziland,” Amos Nxumalo, a store owner in Manzini, said.
The advert sent to an online community newsletter promised that the bottle of beer was “unopened” and was “genuine beer from Swaziland Breweries” purchased from a bottle store in a Manzini suburb on July 20. The seller promises “free delivery”, but only if the buyer lives in Manzini.
“Guaranteed relief from Swaziland’s beer drought,” the seller promised.
A bottle of beer usually sells for R11, but that is during normal times. Swaziland is in its third week of a beer shortage that is the principal topic of conversation in the hard-drinking country. Talk of an upcoming controversial parliamentary election or the 45 percent unemployment rate or any other subject is drowned out by worry over the unprecedented sight of empty store shelves usually filled with bottles of beer.
Swaziland Beverages, which has been operating out of Matsapha near Manzini for 40 years, usually produces sufficient quantities of Castle, Castle Milk Stout, Hansa Pilsner, Black Label and the local brand Sibebe Beer. Production of all brands was halted three weeks ago so the brewery could retool for a new product line, at a cost of R6.1 million.
Mid-winter was selected as the time for the shutdown because beer sales are historically lower during the cold months. However, beer sales remained high this year into the winter, despite the continuing poor performance of the Swaziland economy.
Swaziland Beverages apologised to customers in newspaper adverts, but irate drinkers took to social media to berate the beer producer for not stocking up enough brew to last through the production stoppage.
The national brewery sent its public relations officer Sharon Maziya to the government radio station to explain.
“We tried to seek assistance from our counterparts in South Africa, but I am sad to say they could not help as they also said they had a huge demand and markets to satisfy, thus there was nothing they could do for us.”
The beer shortage has been front-page news in Swaziland. The Times of Swaziland sounded the alarm: “Bars to Run Dry This Weekend!”
The Swazi News’ banner headline reported: “Without Beer We Will Starve!”
The Swazi press staked out border posts on the lookout for beer imports, and reported that two trucks from SAB had entered the country last week. The emergency delivery was not sufficient to end the beer drought.
Swaziland Beverages noted that beer in cans was still available. However, canned beer is more expensive than bottled beer, which is a concern in a country where 70 percent of the population lives in chronic poverty, according to the UN Development Programme.
Angry consumers also complained that bottled beer was favoured by Swazis because bottles can be passed around and shared by several people, unlike smaller cans.
Not only has the beer stopped flowing, but Swaziland Beverages has reportedly suspended its “Call and Collect” service intended to reduce alcohol-related road accidents. Inebriated motorists could phone a hot-line number and be collected by a Swaziland Beverages vehicle for safe deposit at their destinations.
Business Report