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A joint-operation comprising of the National Liquor Authority (NLA) of the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), Eastern Cape Liquor Board, the South African Police Services and Departments of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Basic Education and the Province’s Fire Services and Disaster Management cracked down on liquor outlets that were found to be non-compliant as per their licensing conditions. This happened during a blitz inspection operation that took place in East London and surrounding areas at the weekend.

The operation inspected 14 distributing outlets and issued 1 compliance notice to a distributor for contravening section 16(3) of Act 59 of 2003, 26 illegal and unlicensed liquor traders were shut down and a total of 1686.35 litres of liquor confiscated by officials. The outlets ranging from taverns, restaurants, distributors and manufacturers were raided in East London CBD, Duncan Village, Scenery Park, Mdantsane, Cambridge, Vulindlela, King Williams Town, Tamara, Beacon Bay, Dimbaza and Zwelitsha.

According to Chief Director at the NLA, Ms Prea Ramdhuny, the inspection blitz was meant to address the increasing number of illegal traders, underage drinking, non-adherence to the licence conditions, violation of trading hours and to enforce compliance among liquor traders.

“Our responsibility is to enforce legislation. Liquor outlets showing a blatant disregard of the Liquor Act and those trading irresponsible will be prosecuted. Non-compliance relates to the selling of liquor without a licence, selling to minors, selling after official trading hours, selling to already intoxicated patrons and visibly pregnant women, and selling of liquor for consumption other than on the licensed premises,” said Ramdhuny.

She added that the Liquor industry has an impact on the country’s economy and indeed it influences our social lives and because of this, it becomes crucial that policy mechanisms are in place to ensure that there is responsible trade and consumption of alcohol to alleviate unintended consequences that could undermine the positive contributions the sector has on the economy. The proposed liquor policy seeks to provide a multi focused approach on addressing the socio economic impact of liquor abuse within our communities. Strict licensing conditions and penalties are imperative to ensure that licensed distributors do not sell to unlicensed traders.

Senior Inspector at the Eastern Cape Liquor Board, Mr Zuko Lizani said that they have been made aware of the mushrooming of illegal taverns in these areas and the increasing levels of alcohol abuse. He said that his office uses targeted interventions such as blitz operations as an opportunity to urge people to take responsibility of their lives by refraining from drinking irresponsibly. To those people who trade illegally, they are encouraged to come to the Liquor Board offices and enquire about processes of attaining a liquor license or face the wrath of the law.

“Successful blitz operations will be a way of investing in real impact programmes aimed at changing behaviours and attitudes in order to curb drunk driving, to create awareness of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), promote responsible trading and discourage underage drinking,” said Lizani.

Brigadier Kotyana, Cluster Commander for East London Police said that there are continuous reports of many accounts in the Eastern Cape Province where young people are increasingly falling prey to alcohol and substance abuse. He said that it goes without saying that it is a contributing factor to social ills experienced by all South African communities, and therefore it needed to be dealt with holistically.

“We must ensure that traders and consumers of alcohol adhere to compliance with the laws designed to bring about responsible liquor trading and consumption,” added Kotyana.

Issued by the Department of Trade and Industry