Local liquor shops visited ahead of first weekend with new regulations
The Transport and Community Safety MEC, Station Commander of Polokwane Police Station and other members of the South African Police Service visited various liquor outlets in the city to emphasise the regulations and to inform the business owners and staff that hard policing and monitoring has begun in the province.
POLOKWANE – This weekend will be the first weekend since the new regulations, which governs the transportation and sales of liquor, have been implemented as a result of President Cyril Ramaphosa declaring a national state of disaster in terms of the Disaster Management Act.
Spokesperson for the MEC of Transport, Joel Seabi said in a statement that the Transport and Community Safety MEC, Namane Dickson Masemola kick-started the monitoring today, 20 March.
The MEC visited various liquor outlets in the city to emphasise the regulations and to inform the business owners and staff that hard policing and monitoring has begun in the province.
“We had a special executive council meeting convened by the premier, who shared measures, preparations and the extent to which the provincial government will deal with this matter. We took a decision that through provincial Treasury and the Department of Health, we will have centralised procurement of all the necessities required by the departments so that we can roll out this campaign without further interruptions. This includes our interventions at the taxi ranks and bus stops. We held a meeting with SANTACO, NTA and bus companies in the province this morning to say we will distribute sanitisers, pamphlets and other materials needed so that everybody involved are better informed about the situation as they deal with many people at a time,” Masemola said.
The Station Commander of Polokwane Police Station and other members of the South African Police Service accompanied the MEC. Seabi added that the programme wants to ensure that there is maximum compliance from all liquor outlets in the province with the newly implemented regulations.
“This serves to send a solid message to all sundry, particularly those who are used to staying at such places until late at night and early hours of the morning that it is no longer business as usual as we deal with a matter of national emergency. All of us must play our part and this starts with compliance,” Masemola emphasised.
