Rampant crime due to alcohol abuse and an increase in the number of lives lost due to drunken driving were the two main reasons listed for wanting to amend the current by-laws on liquor trading, the safety and security committee meeting heard on Tuesday.
Under the city's current by-laws, taverns have been allowed to serve liquor until 2am and 4am, but concerns raised by the SAPS have indicated the escalating rate of crime can be attributed to the lack of consistent regulation of operating hours.
The committee was united in its decision to reconsider trading times, as nearly 80% of crimes were alcohol related.
Councillor Terry Herbst said he wanted to see drastic measures to curb crime and he thought reconsidering the trading hours was the best solution.
“I don't care how this affects the profit-makers, the only thing I care about is the number of lives lost because of drunk drivers. This change is in the best interest of the people.
The DA will actually move that the taverns and all other liquor outlets close at 10pm on weekends too, not only during the week,” said Herbst.
He said since Cape Town established trading hours that all taverns be closed at 8pm, the city should follow suit to effectively tackle crime.
Councillor Tobekile Lawu said the police were battling to exercise their mandate to reduce the number of drunk drivers on the road due to some establishments being allowed to trade until 4am.
“Let us consider 12 o'clock as a closing time for all outlets, so that the townships are cleared by 1am and we don't have all these drunk people walking around in the streets.
“The issue must go to the mayoral committee urgently because we need an urgent review of the current by-law. We need to make a decision by the end of the month,” Lawu said.
Councillor Aubrey Mali said he supported the idea wholeheartedly, but was worried about the impact it would have on tourists visiting the city for the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup.
“I'm a bit concerned because tourists are going to want to party all night and we must be friendly to these people. We want people to feel at home.
“We can act now, but what will the repercussions be for 2010? Let's be flexible to accommodate the tourists,” Mali said.
Nightclub owners have lambasted the move, saying the problem was not with the people in the nightclubs, but the culture of irresponsible drinking. Attilia Mulder of Coco de Mer said she had a liquor licence which permitted her to continue operating until 4am.
“Now if the hours are going to be cut short a lot of revenue is going to be lost. We encourage responsible drinking.
“Midnight is basically when people start coming and artists usually start performing from 11.30pm. I believe the police are not doing their job in rectifying drinking in public or parking lots.”
Another nightclub owner, who asked not to be named, said the by-law would be “bad for business”.
Tim Bland, owner of Glendore Arms, said the by-law would destroy bars in Port Elizabeth.
“The municipality should first enforce by-laws that are in place already instead of trying to come up with new ones. Also, if that's the case they might as well give us a reduction on liquor licences.”
Source: The Herald
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