New liquor ruling sparks debate

THE new liquor law’s 500 metre rule has sparked a debate among tavern owners, as the new rule will make most licensed township taverns illegal.

The DTI’s national liquor policy (NLP), open for comment until today, August 13, proposes that liquor premises be located at least 500 metres away from schools, places of worship, recreation and entertainment facilities, which means nowhere near a cinema (a shopping centre), casino or stadium, for instance, or rehabilitation or treatment centres, residential areas and public institutions. The proposal would presumably apply to both off (bottle stores) and on-consumption (restaurants, hotels, casinos, pubs, taverns and clubs) outlets.

The new rule states that no liquor licences shall be issued to premises attached to petrol service stations, near public transport and areas not classified for entertainment or zoned by municipalities for purposes of trading in liquor. Gus Ntlokwana, owner of Duma’s Falling Leaves shebeen in Langa, Cape Town’s oldest township, said, “This law is going backwards. It is a reminder of the past and shebeens are a soft target. Instead of encouraging us, they are against us.

“Today the government says we must do things for ourselves, but their laws prevent us,” said Ntlokwana.

Leon Louw, executive director of the Free Market Foundation (FMF), said, “Not only is this ill-considered, unjust, inconvenient, and unfair to the poor, but this provision is biased toward wealthy elite people living in spacious neighbourhoods.

“Introducing such a rule in low-income and high-density areas echoes apartheid discrimination against mainly disadvantaged blacks. These proposals are unjustifiably disproportionate.

“It would drive most retail licensees out of business, particularly where no or insufficient premises are zoned for entertainment or liquor trading or are far from customers. Relocating pubs and taverns far from public transport so patrons have to drive there and back would increase the incidence of drunk driving,” he said.

The proposals also provide that if a licence is already issued, it would be terminated within two years.

“If this is implemented, with it would go against myriad small businesses and entrepreneurial stalls that set up shop next to taverns and shebeens precisely because this is where their customers are. Owners and staff would lose their livelihoods.

“Preventing poorer people from buying liquor near public transport will, as before, require them to walk or cycle after drinking. Muggings, rapes and alcohol-related incidents will increase.

The list includes ‘areas not classified for entertainment or zoned by municipalities for purposes of trading in liquor’. To this day, most townships have no properties zoned for business purposes.

Louw added that consent use is difficult and expensive to get.

“The law should leave the policing services free to focus on people committing criminal acts, regardless of whether they are intoxicated or where they became so,” said Louw.