It's sight that can make a grown man cry.
On Thursday, the City of Cape Town’s law enforcement flushed more than 8000 litres of booze down the drain.
The alcohol, 12 000 bottles in total, had been confiscated over the past few months.
The City says the department’s pound has been filling up since December, which signalled the start of the festive season and a general increase in the amount of liquor confiscated from public spaces.
Mense can collect their confiscated alcohol from the pound within three months, provided they pay a release fee of R1 400.
Safety and Security services Mayco member JP Smith said: “Not surprisingly, we don’t receive many requests to reclaim alcohol, which is why the pound is bursting at the seams.
“We’ve investigated the option of selling the alcohol and investing the money into our social services programmes but the red tape is prohibitive, in addition to ethical and logistical considerations.
“So, the next best thing is to destroy the alcohol.”
He said the alcohol will be decanted into containers and transported to the Vissershok landfill site by an external service provider for final disposal.
“The City takes no joy in an exercise like this. Not only do we have to invest significant resources into our festive season policing plan to save intoxicated people from themselves, but it also costs us time and money to get rid of the alcohol,” said Smith.