GLENWOOD residents came out in their numbers to join the rest of the country in welcoming the re-opening of liquor shops.
Since the national threat level of the Coronavirus pandemic has been revised from level 4 to Level 3 starting 1 June, the prohibition on the sale of alcohol was lifted.
There were long queues at the Glenwood Tops at Spar liquor shop as crowds of people flowed in during the day to purchase their favourite drinks.
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Mthunzi Bhense, who lives near Howard College campus, was the first customer to buy at Spar Tops since the start of the national lockdown two months ago.
“I am glad the government has allowed us to buy alcohol again, these couple of months have been pretty hard without beer,” said Bhense, who bought 28 beers.
Mthunzi said he started waiting at around 8am because he had to rush to work afterwards.
“This is for just in case the government changes its mind again, so I figure this is going to last me until next week, hopefully.”
At around 9 am, a woman drove slowly past the long queue at Glenwood Spar, she rolled down her window and shouted “The Pick and Pay liquor in Berea Centre is empty!” and quickly sped off while the crowd loudly cheered.
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Another Glenwood resident said they were using the opportunity to stock up on beer.
“We got caught unawares last time they banned it so I’m not going to make the same mistake twice,” he said. According to the government regulations, alcohol will only be sold from Monday to Thursday for home consumption only.
At Liberty Liquor store in Durban central, there was a heavy police presence as hundreds of people were snaked across Dennis Hurley street. KwaZulu-Natal South African Police Service reported no incidents.
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