9 SEPTEMBER 2020
THE VILLAGE
NEWS 2
Varsity offers new qualifications
YOUR FREE COPY
www.thevillagenews.co.za #ALLOVEROVERBERG
8
A wonderland of wildflowers
10
Artwalking our town
16
Teachers in Tekkies raise funds
Marnus van Dyk took this beautiful photograph of a late-winter sunset on Hawston beach. The cold weather is slowly losing its grip as we head towards the equinox on 22/23 September, when the sun is exactly above the equator, and day and night are of equal length. Overstrand residents are looking forward to real spring weather as the sun then starts moving south, bringing warmer weather. PHOTO: MvD Photography
Being smart about alcohol Writer De Waal Steyn
T
he Western Cape wants to amend the province’s liquor act to halve the number of murders in the province in the next 10 years. This is according to Western Cape Minister of Community Safety, Albert Fritz, who said his department is making good progress with the proposed amendments to the liquor act, which are aligned with Premier Alan Winde’s Smart Interventions aimed at reducing alcohol-related harms and halving the murder rate in the province. In July Winde announced the establishment of an Alcohol Harms Task Team which will drive initiatives aimed at reducing the harms of alcohol on society. Amongst others, the focus areas of the task team will include determining the po-
tential impact and feasibility of implementing a provincial excise tax and minimum price per unit of pure alcohol in the Western Cape. “Research evidence advised against a provincial excise tax, with its primary impact being on moderate drinkers and little significant impact on the most problematic categories of heavy and binge drinking. It did, however, indicate that the introduction of a minimum price per unit of pure alcohol would have the desired impact on these targeted heavy and binge drinkers,” Winde said. Other interventions include decreasing the availability of alcohol by limiting the density of liquor outlets, reducing trading hours, and limiting the sale of alcohol in large containers. Minister Fritz said his department monitored the number of homicides during the lockdown, which demonstrated that at the beginning of the lockdown, the murder rate was halved. “However,
as we moved into lockdown Levels 4 and 3, the murder figures increased but then again slightly decreased as the ban on alcohol and the curfew were reinstituted.” According to him a long-term ban on the sale of alcohol is not a sustainable intervention, as it has a major impact on the economy and contributes to unemployment in vulnerable communities. The key proposed amendments to the liquor act include altering the Western Cape Liquor Authority’s liquor licence fees, permanently confiscating seized liquor after the payment of an admission of guilt fine, and inserting an objective test within the act to determine whether alcohol has been sold to an unlicensed outlet or individual. The amendments will also oblige licence holders to take reasonable measures to determine that a client is of legal drinking age, and align the act with the Liquor Products Act to ensure a uniform definition of “illicit liquor”.
It is further proposed that the Liquor Authority’s capacity to hear enforcement cases should be enhanced. Currently, liquor that is confiscated from illegal traders is returned to them after paying an admission of guilt fine, rather than being destroyed. Similarly, licensing fees are the same whether you are a small trader or a wholesaler, essentially creating a situation where there are few consequences for illegal trade, and few incentives for illegal traders to become licensed. The proposed amendments will be put forward to the provincial cabinet, which will scrutinise and debate its contents. Thereafter, it will be prepared by legal services and published in the Provincial Gazette for public input for a period of 21 days. The bill will then be referred to the Provincial Parliament for debating and finalisation. - Continues on P3
