Liquor store speaks up

Following a report about public drinking at Casseldale’s corner shops (Public drinking bad for business), the following response has been given on behalf of the liquor store in question.

An employee at the liquor store, Dumisani Motau (29), says he wishes to diffuse claims that have been made about the operations of, and on the property of, the liquor store.

“There is never any public drinking that goes on here,” says Dumisani, “and there is never a lot of suspicious activity either.”

Dumisani says last week inspectors came to check the store and found there was nothing wrong with the store’s condition.

“We even had the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) here on Wednesday,” he adds, “they came to observe the activities surrounding the store and found nothing was wrong.”

Dumisani says the EMPD instructed them not to tolerate any public drinking and to report such activities to the relevant officials.

“We were told we need to be observant of any wrong activities and ensure that public drinking is not tolerated on our premises,” adds Dumisani.

With regards to the issues of parking, Dumisani says that the parking lot does not cater for any specific business, and therefore the reported issues regarding the parking space have no merit.

The report of a young child who stands at the corner of the store is said to be a misunderstanding, according to Dumisani.

“That is my child,” he says, “and when he is standing outside, I am watching him from inside the store so he is always safe.”

Dumisani says the whole debacle has been a misunderstanding and there is nothing to be concerned about.

Going forward, he says they will be more vigilant to ensure such complaints are not raised again.

“We have never even been in talks with the complainants for them to report such claims,” he says, “we could have discussed these issues and found a solution that satisfies both parties.”

Questions have been sent to the EMPD regarding the alleged visit made to the premises on Wednesday.