Proposed Act to curb illegal liquor operations in Limpopo
Non-compliance has seen 425 operations closed down between January and March, with 5 384 people having been arrested for public drinking.
POLOKWANE – A recent three-day raid by the Department of Economic Development has pointed to the growing problem of illegal liquor sales in the city and province.
Non-compliance has seen 425 operations closed down between January and March, with 5 384 people having been arrested for public drinking.
The department will in the next five weeks launch the Limpopo Liquor Act, which will, among many other provisions, allow for the closing down of operations that are unlicensed or unregistered.
In a statement, the department wrote that Limpopo reportedly has more than 14 000 liquor trading outlets, and they will in the process of validating this statistic host raids, visit outlets, monitor compliance and ensure increased record-keeping during the licence renewal process.
During the recent raid, the owners of 194 out of 494 liquor outlets were fined for non-compliance, including operating outside of permitted hours and non-permit renewals, among others. Seven outlets were closed and 301l of liquor was confiscated.
Through the implementation of the Limpopo Liquor Act, the departments hopes to “clean out the rot in the industry who hopes to attract young people in the lucrative liquor trade”.
Among its many other provisions, the pending Act is said to allow for the closing down of licensed premises where there is public disorder, riot/s, or public violence, unregistered outlets, expired licences, undocumented ownership, foreign ownership, unregistered liquor trade and other illegitimate reasons.
Earlier in the month, the Westenburg community complained to the local police of liquor outlets operating beyond midnight while others saw sporadic violence. The Liquor Act prohibits the consumption of liquor by those younger than 18, despite being with a parent or adult in an outlet. The reality, however, is that youths are found in local outlets, often without the knowledge of their parents, which the Westenburg community asked the police to intervene with. If passed, the Act should make it easy to get unscrupulous liquor outlets to account, which the National Liquor Act does not account for comprehensively, the statement continues.
Capricorn district police commander, Maj Genl Lesiba Mashilo said they were in the process of attending to the complaints raised by Westenburg residents.
