Containment in South Africa: home beer is on the rise

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South Africa entered its 5th week of confinement this weekend to fight the coronavirus. The measures should be relaxed from next Friday, especially for businesses, but there is one restriction that should remain for the moment: that of the ban on the sale of alcohol.

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With our correspondent in Johannesburg, Claire Bargelès

The ban on the sale of alcohol during confinement in South Africa is justified by the weakening of the immune defenses of consumers, their lack of social distancing, and the number of hospital beds occupied because of accidents related to the alcohol. But those who have not been able to make enough reserves are looking for devious ways to continue using. And many are turning to home brewing of beer, sometimes using ancestral recipes.

On social networks, an exchange of homemade alcohol recipes has emerged, and requests to do so have greatly increased on search engines. The meager reserves of 20-year-old Steve did not last long. So he wanted to try pineapple beer: “  I just searched the internet with what ingredients you can make beer with us. There I made it simply with fruit, water, and yeast, then fermentation occurs. The taste is pretty good, but just two glasses is enough for me.  "

Forgotten recipes

Those who find the right ingredients and have patience also turn to traditional recipes which take longer to make. This is the case of umqombothi , a beer made from corn and sorghum, banned for sale under apartheid, and honored by Yvonne Chaka Chaka in a famous song.

In the township of Tembisa, Nkululeko, 32, embarked on this preparation: “  I think that with this confinement, people remembered that we were able to make our own beer ourselves. At each traditional ceremony, there is umqombothi. And it is not just for our consumption, but in our beliefs, it is also a beer that puts us in contact with our ancestors, and allows the worlds of the dead and the living to communicate.  "

The authorities recall that these homemade preparations are concerned by the sale or movement ban. And even if alcohol by fermentation is less dangerous than that produced by distillation, poorly prepared, these drinks can also make you sick.

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• South Africa
• Coronavirus
• Confinement

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