Uitenhage police destroy illegal brew in festive season raid

12 December 2015 - 11:55 By Gareth Wilson

More than 700 litres of illegal home-brewed beer was confiscated and destroyed on Thursday during an operation aimed at clamping down on taverns in the KwaNobuhle area of Uitenhage. The exercise‚ which forms part of the police festive season clamp-down called Operation Duty Calls‚ found 22 houses and taverns brewing and selling the beer‚ also known as bheya‚ mshovalale‚ ntakunyisa or iskokiyane.Police spokesman Sergeant Majola Nkohli described the beer as “a vile substance” which in some instances had resulted in death.“In some of these vile concoctions dead cockroaches‚ flies and other insects were found … [it] is destroyed on site and the equipment used to brew the beer is confiscated as well.“We are also aware of unoccupied shacks erected in some informal areas that are used as storage rooms and we are going to involve the municipality to assist in tracing the owners of those shacks.”The operation started at about 4am and ended around midday. “Over 700 litres of the vile concoction was destroyed and during the operation a licensed tavern was served with a compliance notice for selling liquor outside the prescribed trading hours‚” Nkohli said.“This success follows last weekend’s record-breaking arrest of 171 suspects in the Uitenhage cluster for crimes ranging from serious to traffic offences.”Nkohli warned that operations to stop the sale of “deadly” brew would continue.He said the Uitenhage cluster police were ready and prepared to take the streets from criminals.“The intensity of police operations is going to be felt in various areas of the Uitenhage cluster‚ as daily operations are held in various areas so as to reduce crime committed during the festive season‚” he said.“Parents are also requested not to be shy in reporting taverns that are selling liquor to children under 18 years of age.”In Mozambique last month 75 people were killed and 232 rushed to hospital after they drank home-made beer at a funeral.Dozens were found dead in their homes and others had diarrhoea and severe muscle aches. The woman who brewed the beer and several members of her family were among the dead.Mozambique’s Health Institute later said the victims were poisoned because the beer became contaminated by a bacteria found in the flour used to brew it. - TMG Digital/The Herald..

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