Residents across the country have taken to bottle stores in droves to stock up on alcoholic beverages. This comes after a mysterious Whatsapp message started doing the rounds claiming the alcohol ban would soon return.

According to the Whatsapp voice note, the President is expected to announce the ban on the sale of alcohol will return with immediate effect from August 25. This voice note appears to be fake news.

There has been no announcement from Government that President Ramaphosa will address the nation anytime soon. According to EWN, the Presidency has denied the rumours.

The DA’s trade and industry spokesperson, Natasha Mazzone has also denied the reports.

“People need to treat such voice notes with caution as they cause panic,” they told IOL.

Despite the lack of confirmation, it seems locals are still scarred from the last time the ban was reinstated with immediate effect. People were pictured standing in long queues outside of liquor stores, and showing off case loads of drinks they are stockpiling for the supposed renewed prohibition.

Some are even theorising that the voice note may have been created and circulated by bottle store owners to increase sales, and they perfectly timed the release of the voice note to coincide with pay day.

Whatever the reason, it’s clear South Africans are not ready to part with their liquor again.

Picture: Twitter

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