SOUTH AFRICA - BE WARY, POLICE TO MONITOR LIQUOR STORES FOLLOWING BAN LIFT ON JUNE 1

Police will continue with high visibility strategy deployment at liquor outlets to ensure no one breaks lockdown regulations. 

That’s according to national police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo.

This comes after scores of people across the country visited various liquor outlets to stock up on their favourite alcoholic beverages on Monday. 

Businesses with liquor licences are permitted to operate during level 3 lockdown which came into effect on 1 June.

Traders are allowed to operate from Mondays until l Thursday between 9:00 and to 17:00. 

Speaking on POWER Drive, Naidoo says: “We have been monitoring the medium and large liquor stores and we found that people were complying.”

Naidoo says the ban on the sale of alcohol had seen a significant drop in various crimes across the country. Alcohol was banned since the country went into national lockdown in March. 

“This has been our argument. We were trying to have this ban on alcohol in place until for as long as we possibly could. Primarily, we felt that people indulging in alcohol would become more vulnerable to contracting the virus.

“People would start getting in groups and start interacting. This is the primary reason but of course, it has other benefits to it, especially in terms of your contact related crime – murder, attempted murders, domestic violence case and gender-based violence cases. They have all dropped significantly since the ban on alcohol was imposed.”

He further says alcohol has contributed to many crimes committed in the country. 

“We have always said in the past before we even experienced Covid-19 virus – we said one of the biggest crime generators for contact crime is in fact alcohol.”

The sale of alcohol under level 3 has been strongly criticised by various political parties as well as the public. 

EFF leader Julius Malema is one of the leaders who opposed the lifting of the ban on alcohol. 

“Scientifically it has been proven that the trauma units in the hospitals become extremely overpopulated with incidences that drive from alcohol. It can not be correct that you uplift alcohol sales and ban cigarette sales,” said Malema.

South Africa has recorded 34 357 Covid-19 cases, 705 deaths and 17291 recoveries.

via - POWERFM