Litres of alcohol go down the drain in Pretoria

Alcohol worth of thousands of rands was disposed by the Tshwane district police and Gauteng liquor board in Pretoria West on Friday morning, Pretoria Rekord reports.

The confiscated liquor disposal was disposed of at the Daspoort wastewater treatment works.

Major-General Hilda Mohajane said the alcohol was confiscated from different liquor outlets contravening the provisions of their licences.

“Today, we are disposing of more than 1 465 litres of various brands of liquor. This is another achievement towards the fight against various crimes which include gender-based violence, assault, murder and driving under the influence of alcohol,” she said.

Mohajane said a zero tolerance approach was followed and will see many police officers raid illegal taverns and liquor outlets.

“These operations are intended to create awareness on substance and liquor abuse. We also sought to conduct liquor enforcement operations in line with the national and provincial liquor legislation and to monitor non-adherence to licence conditions and trading hours.”

She said that police would be more active during the festive season to ensure communities were kept safe.

“We can assure you that our members will be out in their numbers to protect and serve the communities before, during and after the festive season,” Mohajane said.

President of the Concerned Tshwane Liquor Traders Association Oupa Mthombeni said illegal taverns and shebeens needed to be reported.

“We still have a problem with taverns operating after regulated hours. Most of these places that are breaking the law are operating without a licence,” he said.

He urged the government to assist taverns owners to obtain their liquor licence.