Seventeen liquor stores have been looted in the Western Cape by desperate drinkers since the national lockdown kicked in on 26 March.
Now there is mounting pressure on both the president and minister of police to reconsider lifting the ban on alcohol sales after the lockdown was extended to 30 April
The Gauteng Liquor Forum has given the government until today to lift or amend restrictions, or it will approach the Constitutional Court.
In a letter written to President Cyril Ramaphosa, the forum, which represents 20 000 small businesses in Gauteng, said the extended lockdown will most likely ruin many of their livelihoods.
Shebeen and tavern owners are not registered under the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission but get their licences from provincial liquor boards instead, and as such do not qualify for the Covid-19 relief given to small business owners.
DESPERATION: Mense loot Delft liquor store. Video supplied
Darron Swersky of the Picardi group and Vintage International Brands, who supply alcohol to over 60 stores nationally, says they have been impacted badly.
“We are calling for the relaxation on the ban of alcohol sales, we are not saying it must be lifted completely,” he says.
“The burglaries are done by people who want to sell alcohol and it will only get worse.
“This will cause unrest and further damage to businesses and properties.”
Police minister Bheki Cele said 17 liquor stores have been looted or broken into in the Cape for which 24 suspects have been nabbed.
On Sunday morning, three men were arrested when they virtually drove straight into a traffic police roadblock soon after a burglary at a liquor shop in Stellenbosch.
Cops found the stolen dop in the suspects’ silver VW Golf.
The suspects, aged 43, 33, and 29, will appear in the Stellenbosch Magistrates’ Court today.
During an official visit to Paarl on Sunday, Cele also raised concerns about the alleged involvement of police officers in liquor-related crimes during the lockdown.
MASS LOOTING: Avonwood Tops store raid
Two warrant officers from the family violence, child protection, and sexual offences (FCS) unit in Delft were arrested on Thursday, together with a liquor shop manager and a cashier, after police responded to a tip-off and pounced on the suspects inside the shop in Strand where they were allegedly buying liquor that was going to be resold illegally elsewhere.
Cele had called for an urgent meeting with liquor retailers to work out a “collaborative strategy towards mitigating this emerging risk”.
The minister was previously quoted as saying that he wished the alcohol ban could be extended beyond the lockdown as crime has gone down.