The Eastern Cape government wants the national coronavirus command council to consider banning the sale of alcohol in the province.

This is according to premier Oscar Mabuyane, DispatchLIVE reported. Mabuyane chairs the provincial command council.

His sentiment comes just hours after health MEC Sindiswa Gomba told journalists on Monday that there was a surge in the number of trauma cases in hospitals at the weekend.

At East London's Frere Hospital alone, there were 67 trauma cases linked to alcohol, she said.

“I want to make a plea to the people of the Eastern Cape to drink responsibly because when they overindulge, that has been proven to result in car accidents, stabbings, rapes  and general violence which add more pressure on our already overstretched doctors and nurses,” she said.

Mabuyane told eNCA they were considering lobbying for a ban on the sale of alcohol in the Eastern Cape.

“Alcohol is a problem generally. In our command council as a province, we said we must lobby to close down this problem,” he said, adding that they were concerned about the way in which some people had celebrated last week's lifting of the ban on the sale of alcohol. 

Under level 3 of the lockdown, the sale of alcohol was permitted only from Monday to Thursday and during restricted hours. 

Mabuyane is the latest politician to campaign for the banning of alcohol. EFF leader Julius Malema strongly opposed the lifting of the ban, and Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has been on a one-man campaign for an alcohol-free SA.