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South African province considers Christmas drinks sales curfew
The South African Police Service (SAPS) is pushing to restrict sales of alcohol in the northern province of Limpopo during the festive period.
Limpopo deputy police commissioner Major General Jan Scheepers expressed concern about the spike in alcohol-related crime around Christmas, and has suggested that the solution is to ban drinks sales after midnight.
“We should examine the possibility of earlier closing times for liquor outlets to minimise the post-closing influx of patrons on our streets, enabling our police to focus on preventing crime in our communities,” argued Scheepers, as reported by South African news outlet The Citizen.
“Now is the time to rethink our approach. The amendment of the liquor regulations offers us an opportunity to balance the interests of the business community with the well-being of our residents.”
He also suggested there was a need for educational campaigns to promote mindful drinking and measures to curb excessive noise this December.
The proposal is an echo of the prohibition measures South Africa adopted during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the country repeatedly introducing lockdowns – the fourth alcohol ban also introduced a curfew from 9pm until 4am.
An attempt was made last year to implement Liquor Act No 5 of 2009 in Limpopo, which was then lifted by the high court in Polokwane.
However, the renewed SAPS proposals have not been positively received by some businesses, some of which currently sell alcohol as late as 2am.
Ernest Sebua, owner of Topax Carwash and Shisanyama, a late night restaurant in Mokopane, told IOL News: “The liquor industry thrives during festive seasons and that’s when most traders make up for the commission shortfalls suffered during the course of the year. The earlier closing won’t work.”
“Imposing such a curfew will only add to the already strained South African Police Service (SAPS) resources as they will have to deal with alcohol bootleggers as we saw during Covid-19 curfews,” added Sebua.
Others suggested that the police were “scapegoating” the consumption of alcohol for a rise in crime.
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