THE South African arm of Heineken will cut 70 jobs and put new investments on hold in the country due to the significant impact of bans on alcohol sales and COVID-19 trading restrictions, it said on Wednesday.
South Africa has recently banned alcohol sales for the third time as part of efforts to free up space for COVID-19 patients in hospitals burdened with alcohol-related injuries.
About 30% of local breweries have been forced to shut their doors permanently and some, including Heineken, have abandoned planned investments.
Heineken employs just under 1,000 full time employees in South Africa where more than 165,000 people in the industry have lost their jobs since lockdowns started at the end of March.
The company said in a statement in light of the continued market pressure and in line with a global review by its Dutch parent company, it now finds it necessary to restructure its
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