Government tackles liquor traders’ troubles
A lack of financial assistance was one of the issues the region's liquor traders brought to the table during a workshop held by the Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison (DCSSL) at the local community hall last Thursday morning.
SCHOEMANSDAL – The Mpumalanga DCSSL hosted their third liquor traders’ workshop in the local community hall to strengthen responsible liquor trading last Thursday.
They were supported by SAPS, Nkomazi Local Municipality and the Matsamo Traditional Authority.
Liquor traders told government representatives many of them were in a lot of debt with suppliers and needed urgent financial assistance from the government. They stated their establishments provided many people with a livelihood in areas where there was a high unemployment rate.
Trading past official hours was one of the problems that the DCSSL hoped to address.
Some of the traders said they were willing to comply with trading regulations, but sometimes struggled with intoxicated patrons who refused to leave.
They asked that police be fair when executing their duties. The MEC Mr Pat Ngomane urged liquor sellers to comply with the law and assist government in the fight against crime.
He spoke out strongly against a trader who said he sold liquor to youths because they also have rights. “Those who sell alcohol to minors or violate any other provisions will have their licences revoked. Liquor should not be about profits, but the traders should also become community builders,” Ngomane stated.
READ: Liquor traders warned to operate within the law
The Mpumalanga Liquor Authority’s head of compliance, Mr Elijah Mamba said that some rent out their building to people who were not licensed to trade, in particular foreign nationals, and this created a challenge for law enforcers.
“It is not illegal to rent out a building, but people who occupy such an establishment should be properly licensed,” he said.
Sellers were encouraged to conduct their business responsibly and to ensure they don’t make alterations to their establishments without notifying the relevant authorities, as it may affect the validity of their trading licenses.
Mamba told them to ensure they have adequate ablution facilities and not to make patrons pay to use them, as this leads to them urinating and littering in the streets.
He stated that liquor traders should take an interest in the well-being of their customers by, among other things, ensuring that intoxicated customers do not drive. “This has a huge impact on government road-safety initiatives,” Mamba added.
READ: Community in favour of higher drinking age
Other problems discussed during the previous workshops that also applied to Nkomazi were noise pollution, littering and improper parking. At some establishments, loud music and noise regularly disturb nearby residents, patrons leave the area full of litter, and traffic flow is disrupted by patrons who block the road with their cars.
Complaints included corruption among officials who processed trading licences, and that some applications or corrections took a long time to be finalised.
Mr Eric Kholwane, MEC for economic development and tourism, called on officials to treat applications equally and fairly and told the community to report any corruption.
