KZN taverns urged to help police fight festive season domestic violence

Violence against women committed by patrons after visiting taverns and drinking establishments has been cited amongst the main contributors to high rape and gender- based violence (GBV) cases in KwaZulu-Natal.

This is according to the provincial commissioner Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who was speaking to liquor traders in Amanzimtoti, south of Durban on Thursday.

“We see a whole lot of these cases in areas like iNanda,” said Mkhwanazi.

He said in October police set in motion operations geared towards ensuring the public is safe during the festive season, which gets under way soon. The engagement with traders was part of this and coincided with the global 16 days of activism of no violence against women and children.

“We needed to look at the hotspots and we know that most of these incidences are mostly prevalent in townships. I don’t know what is the reason for that. Maybe it’s because some of the criminals live there,” said Mkhwanazi.

He said as the festive season gets into full swing, police plan to increase their visibility in public spaces.

“We will conduct compliance inspections where we focus on all bottle stores and liquor traders. Generally the bottle stores and pubs do not give us problems,” said Mkhwanazi.

He encouraged business owners to employ security officers to counter criminals activity. He called on business owners to report those who are selling alcohol, including the police, some of whom were involved in underhanded activity.

“We know that your business matters. I would make an example of an incident in Pietermaritzburg last year where some of the patrons were killed. What helped us with this incident is that the owner had cameras, which helped us apprehend some of the suspects,” said Mkhwanazi.

“If you know of any police selling alcohol, let us know, we would not hesitate in taking punitive steps. We will dismiss them and let them work full-time on their businesses,” said Mkhwanazi.

He said when police confiscated illicit liquor, this sometimes presented a problem as there was not enough space to store liquor at police stations.

“It becomes even a bigger problem because it tempts some of our members who pinch some of the liquor,” said Mkhwanazi.

Acting chief executive in the KwaZulu-Natal Liquor Authority Bheki Mbanjwa said they had conducted inspections between April and September this year.

Out of 2,983 outlets inspected, 2,718 were found to be compliant, 118 of those were non-compliant.

“During the festive season the liquor authority will be working with police and other law enforcement agencies. Our focus will be on illegal premises and education and awareness programmes,” said Mbanjwa.

eThekwini metro police Col Mohammed Raoof expressed concern that some of the traders continued to flout bylaws.

“We often witnessed serious problems around the noise levels at these establishments,” said Raoof, adding that this creates a nightmare for residents and leaves them with no option but to fine the business owners.

Another challenge was that of people building additional structures on their establishments without having followed the proper channels.

“This creates major problems for building inspectors. We would like to warn those people that if they are found to be guilty of this, their structures would be demolished,” said Raoof.

Ntando Mbhele from Pietermaritzburg blamed the police for not coming down hard on shebeen owners who are not compliant.

“We end up being targeted. Without fail, by 12.05am we find a police van descending on our business,” said Mbhele.

Mbhele said most of the rape and murders cases often occur at the time when their patrons are on their way home. “That’s when they get accosted,” said Mbhele.

Umlazi resident Sbu Mazibuko said the high proliferation of crime in Umlazi is a result of specialised crime units not being deployed in the notorious township. He listed tactical crime and dogs unit, which no longer has a strong presence in the area.

“That’s why criminals are now running amok. There is also a problem of police vehicles being at the workshops. We had an incident recently where there was gun-toting criminals at some tavern but we were not able to get a response when we phoned the police," said Mazibuko.

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