Members of the provincial legislature placed the Western Cape Department of Community Safety and the Liquor Authority (WCLA) under fire amidst claims that the use of alcohol could be linked to half the murders in the province.
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This came after the release of the 2021/22 annual report when Standing Committee on Community Safety chairperson, Gillion Bosman (DA), said that the department’s role in the province was paramount, considering that 50% of murders could be linked with alcohol.
HOD, Yashina Pillay said that the WCLA’s strategic objectives and operations were inline with the deliverables of the provincial safety plan and the department’s work
She added that the department had established an Alcohol Harms Reduction Task Team to drive amendments to the Western Cape Liquor Act.
According to Pillay, the task team had embarked on a process of identifying the regulatory enablers and inhibitors, including the reduction of unit price of alcohol and the legal limit of blood alcohol content, among others.
She said that the authority were also looking into limiting the availability of alcohol in an effort to minimise the socio-economic costs of excessive drinking.
The department said that inspection capacity had increased profoundly with the appointment of 24 junior liquor inspectors, resulting in and inspectors-to-licence holders of 1:270, translating to 13416 inspections in the last financial year or an increase of 320% since 2017/2018.
ACDP’s Ferlon Christians (ACDP) pointed out that the authority faced the challenge of needing to promote alcohol harm reduction policy while still trying to drive revenue from alcohol sales.
“On the one hand there are municipalities extending liquor trading hours and allowing Sunday trading, on the other hand the Community Safety Department is trying to reduce alcohol use. How do you balance these demands?” said Christians.
WCLA chief executive Simion George said that all role-players were currently exploring methods of aligning their systems and processes, in order to serve the same purpose, rather than frustrating each other.
He added that meetings and workshops with Salga, the City, authority and other local stakeholders had taken place and that the WCLA had sharpened its focus towards effective regulation by prioritising and enabling the Liquor Licensing Tribunal in the determination of public interest.
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New liquor laws on the cards to tackle the Cape’s “deadly relationship with alcohol”
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