Grahamstown police did not know that the by-laws regulating liqour trading hours have been passed and therefore have not been preventing establishments from selling at illegal hours.
Grahamstown police did not know that the by-laws regulating liqour trading hours have been passed and therefore have not been preventing establishments from selling at illegal hours.
This was revealed during the municipal council’s social services portfolio committee meeting this week when the committee considered minutes of the newly established Liqour Control Consultative Forum.
The forum, which is made up of representatives of the police, the municipality and the Liquor Board was formed after the board called a meeting with the different role players last month. The purpose of the meeting was to find a solution to the problems of zoning and noise in liquor outlets.
According to the minutes of that meeting, the police explained to the forum that they were not aware that the Liqour Trading hours by-law had been passed by the council. "Superintendent Frank de Vis promised the forum that they will look into that as that they were not aware that the by-laws were gazetted yet," reads the minutes.
Since the change in the Eastern Cape Liqour Act a couple of years ago, the board had been experiencing problems with granting liqour licenses. Communities started to complain to the board about outlets opening in their areas without their knowledge. The other complaint was that some outlets operate without adhering to the stipulated requirements.
The liqour act compels the councillor of the ward in which a license applicant would like to trade to hold a meeting with the concerned residents and furnish its minutes and attendance register to the board.
However, the board’s senior inspector Nceba Ntelwa admitted that the councillors were not calling such meetings.
De Vis accused the liqour board of delaying the appointments of police liqour inspectors and argued that the inspectors would be effective once they are appointed. Ntelwa said he was busy with the process and promised that it would not take long before he finalised it.
Makana Environmental Health and Cleansing manager Johan Esterhuizen explained that the Prevention of Public Nuisance by-law prohibits residents from playing music outside premises. He also suggested that the police should take action against the people who break this by-law.
"The [forum]members agreed that they must target a certain area to check compliance within this 14 day period," reads the minutes. "It was decided that the inspections will commence in Extension 6 and then Extension 4."
The portfolio committee resolved that the councillor of the ward in which a license applicant would like to trade is to hold a meeting with the concerned residents and furnish its minutes and attendance register to the forum.
The affected ward councillor would be invited to the forum’s meeting where all the different departments in the municipality would provide the necessary information to the forum so that the Liqour Board can make informed decisions when issuing liqour licenses.
