Pretoria - An anti-alcohol abuse lobby group has welcomed reported plans in legislation to deal "harshly" with alcohol abuse by teenagers in Gauteng.
The provincial government has announced that it is finalising legislation that will see among others changes in the current liquor licensing policy, the prohibition of liquor sales after midnight at pubs, taverns, shebeens and night clubs. Currently the stipulated closing time for some establishments is 2am.
"We definitely welcome this as good news in the ongoing fight against alcohol abuse and we hope there will be strict enforcement," said Shamim Garga, Director of the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drugs.
"Our problem about these legislations is that they are always good on paper but the enforcement is often lacking so we really hope there can be some level of strictness in the enforcement side because alcohol abuse by youngsters is becoming a problem," she added.
The new law is expected to give police more power over troublesome liquor outlets.
Cape Town released a similar operational strategy for preventing alcohol and drug abuse two years ago.
