Police Minister orders crackdown on illegal shebeens
Police Minister Bheki Cele has given law enforcement units
until next Monday to shut down all illegal shebeens in the country.
Speaking at the launch of the safer festive season campaign, Cele called out the owners of illegal establishments labelling their businesses criminal.
Communities are still reeling from a number of deadly incidents this year.
In July, gunmen stormed a tavern in Sweetwaters in Pietermaritzburg and opened fire, killing four patrons and wounding eight.
READ: Enyobeni victims' parents demand access to full toxicology report, threaten legal action
The country was also rocked by the Enyobeni tavern disaster in the Eastern Cape, where 21 children lost their lives earlier this year.
Cele says this needs to end.
He has urged tavern owners to respect the communities they operate in.
“They phone us and wake us up at 4am and they say we can't sleep, there's music after 4 in the morning. So these licences must give space for the communities to live better, to rest," says Cele.
"Communities are working, they want to rest. Weekends are not for them to be harassed by the people of shebeens and taverns. If it breaks the law and 4 o’clock or 2 o’clock in the morning, VALA, shutdown."
