Pretoria - About six liquor outlets were closed down following an inspection blitz by officials of the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) and the South African Police Service.
With the participation of the KwaZulu-Natal Liquor Board and the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, six outlets were closed and fines to the value of R20 000 were meted out to non-compliant licence holders, the dti said on Monday.
Director of Legal Support and Prosecutions at the dti’s National Liquor Authority (NLA), Advocate Sandile Nkosi, said the purpose of the inspection blitz was to enforce compliance with the Liquor Act in and around eThekwini, to visit problematic premises and to check who was trading where, and with what goods.
The inspection began last Thursday, with over 57 outlets ranging from taverns, restaurants, distributors and manufacturers being raided in the Durban, Pinetown, New Germany, Hillcrest, Phoenix, KwaNyuswa and KwaMakhuta.
“Most outlets that were given compliance notices and fines failed to adhere to the stipulated conditions of their licences, i.e. failure to produce licences on the trading premises, failure to produce a managers’ certificate if trading as juristic person, trading beyond stipulated hours and juveniles drinking on premises, among others,” said Nkosi.
He also said that most license holders indicated that they did not understand the Act itself and the conditions thereof.
“The lack of knowledge from licence holders is alarming as the conditions are attached to the licence when it is granted,” said Nkosi.
Vusi Mzobe, the Regional Manager for Compliance at the KwaZulu-Natal Liquor Board, said there were plans for more raids in the near future with different stakeholders, and that the province would constantly do their monthly raids to monitor compliance.
“The blitz has shown over the years that working with various stakeholders, who deal with different legislation of the Liquor Act, produces fruitful results than working in isolation”, said Mzobe.
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries indicated that the Liquor Product Act 60 of 1989 stipulates full compliance for manufacturers to indicate the alcohol volume, as per the Act, and mostly this was not the case. The manufactures also did not comply with the requirements of labelling.
Some of the products which were confiscated include fake spirits and illegal gambling machines at one of the premises.
The Liquor Act requires that a person who is selling, manufacturing or distributing alcohol possesses a licence. The licence makes the holder thereof legally responsible to the government as far as protecting the public interest is concerned. - SAnews.gov.za
