Thieves hit bottle store and clear out whisky stock

Barely a day after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a ban on the sale of liquor, thieves broke into a bottle store in Cape Town and helped themselves to their drink of choice.

“They basically emptied the whiskies out,” Mark Kallend, owner of OK Liquor in Bothasig, said of the theft in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

“They ripped the safety gate off with their vehicle… they tied a rope around it and yanked it off. They then threw a boulder through the window.”

Images showed the store in disarray, with bottles of whisky on the floor and puddles of liquor in the aisle.

Bottles of wine and brandy nearby were left untouched.

“It just shows people are desperate for alcohol and they are going to take what they can, when they can,” Kallend said.

He was in the process of replacing the glass panels and safety gates.

“I am going to lock up and pray for the best. What else can you do?”

Comment from Western Cape police will be added once it is received.

Ramaphosa announced on Sunday that the sale of alcohol would be banned with immediate effect.

“As we head towards the peak of infections, it is vital that we do not burden our clinics and hospitals with alcohol-related injuries that could have been avoided,” he told the nation on Sunday.

He said it was a fight to “save every life, and we need to save every bed”.

Anyone with information on the theft can contact investigating officer, Sergeant Jonathan Kriel during office hours on 021-558-3688, or the Bothasig Detective standby number 079-894-0095.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.