Durban - The government is toying with the idea of revisiting the issuing of liquor licences across KwaZulu-Natal after it emerged that Sweetwaters, in Pietermaritzburg, has no fewer than 160 taverns and 50 bottle stores.
Acting Transport, Community Safety and Liaison MEC Jomo Sibiya said the high number of liquor outlets, and the easy access to liquor, made the area an alcohol precinct.
Sweetwaters is home to Samukelisiwe Tavern, the scene of Saturday’s mass shooting in which four people were killed: Nkosingiphile Nsele, Mdumiseni Ngidi, Nkosinathi Mdladla and Simphiwe Mthembu.
“It cannot be that you have so many people trading in one precinct. There needs to be stricter regulations on the issuing of trading licences to avoid an oversaturated market.
“The Transport Department does that with taxi operating licences, so something should be done in this sector as well,” said Sibiya.
He was leading a delegation of leaders that included Msunduzi mayor Mzi Thebolla and uMgungundlovu District mayor Mzi Zuma, who visited the scene of the fatal shooting before visiting the affected families.
He decried how the township appeared to be anchored on liquor trading, adding that other avenues of generating income ought to be explored.
Sibiya said it was time that the government took the fight to the criminals, who were now terrorising communities under a democratic government.
“Thugs must never do as they please, they should know that the government is in charge, from the premier right up to the president. Democracy is not open ended, it has laws,” Sibiya said.
He admitted that the government had also been slow in building recreational facilities, leading to many communities looking at liquor outlets as the only places for entertainment and fun.
Reacting to the weekend incident, the KwaZulu-Natal Liquor Authority said it had noted it with great concern, and strongly condemned any acts of violence and killings within the licensed liquor outlets in particular.
It indicated that the authority’s acting chief executive, Bheki Mbanjwa, together with a Compliance and Enforcement team, had visited the outlet and found it was in possession of a valid liquor licence.
Liquor authority board chairperson Mbali Myeni said that while no wrongdoing had been identified during the visit, the authority would probe the matter further.
“A further internal investigation will be embarked upon that will seek to determine if there were any breaches of the liquor licence conditions by the owner of the outlet. Should the Liquor Authority find that there was a lack of compliance and/or any breach of licence conditions, the necessary steps will be taken against the licence holder, which may lead to the licence being suspended or cancelled, said Myeni. She said the licence applicants were required in terms of the Liquor Licensing Act to submit a detailed security plan with a written representation in terms of the measures to be taken by them to provide security for both inside the proposed premises, as well as within a radius of five metres outside of the proposed premises.
The chairperson also urged communities to report any suspicious and non-compliant liquor outlets.
Speaking to the media in the same venue, KZN Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi appealed to communities to help curb the high rate of violent incidents in the province. The provincial commissioner acknowledged that Plessislaer police station in Pietermaritzburg was under-resourced to attend to the growing community in the greater Edendale area.
“The fact is that the station has not been expanded in order to handle the more than 300 000 people within its precinct. At the same time, though, what is the correct number of police that the station should have in relation to the community they are serving? I do not know,” said the commissioner.
He added that this underlined the importance of community activism in the fight against crime.
“If community members can report criminal activities and help identify those responsible, the police can do a lot better knowing that they have the community’s support. No matter how many police officers you have, as long as they don’t get support the fight against crime will always be difficult,” said Mkhwanazi. He said that they were following promising leads and had arrested two suspects in relation to the shooting.
During yesterday’s visit, trade continued as usual, as it did on Sunday, the day after the incident. Some community members said they suspected the shooting could be linked to drug wars, with pedlars fighting over territory.