GLF COLUMN

TOBACCO AND LIQUOR LEGISLATION WILL KILL TOWNSHIP BUSINESSES!

By Linda Madida, President of the Gauteng Liquor Forum

According to the Gauteng Liquor Forum, which represents over 20 000 taverns and shebeens in the province, if the Departments of Health and Trade and Industry have their way, liquor sales will be banned in townships and smokers will need to walk outside the township to have a cigarette. “These government departments have released draft policies that could very well mean the end to many businesses that operate within townships,” says Linda Madida, president of the Gauteng Liquor Forum.

The policies in question are the draft Public Place Smoking tobacco regulations, which will not allow any person to smoke within 10 metres of a window, walkway or doorway. Adding to this tavern owners will be forced to police their patrons to make sure they only smoke one cigarette on the premises. The second policy is the National Liquor Policy which was recently released by the dti, which prohibits any sale of alcohol within 500 metres of a residential area, school, church or other religious institution, recreational facilities like parks, sports clubs, stadiums, cinemas, etc and public institutions, petrol stations or in the vicinity of public transport. “This is a ridiculous piece of legislation that will do nothing but harm township businesses that have struggled to make a success of themselves both during and after Apartheid. Townships aren’t zoned and I can guarantee that there is not one place in any township in South Africa that will be seen as a legal place to smoke and sell alcohol. All of this means our businesses will be forced to close, and that is not something that I am going to allow this government to do to its people,” says Madida. Madida believes these regulations will force township taverns to operate the way they did back in the Apartheid years, which will result in the poor being discriminated against. This will harm the “township” economy and in turn breed more corruption amongst taverns that aren’t able to comply.

“It is impossible in townships to find any place that is not close to public transport, a residential area or a place that is classified for entertainment, education or recreation. If a business is found to be operating within the 500 metre ban, they will need to close within two years. If you run a tavern or shebeen that is legal and someone builds a house within the 500 metre ban, this policy states that you will need to close your doors. There is something very wrong with the way our politicians are making laws,” says Madida.

“I am also really worried that government seems to have deliberately removed ‘indoor smoking areas’ from the National Liquor Policy, although it is in the original Liquor Act. What is going on here is very strange: either these ministers have forgotten what townships are like or they’ve forgotten who they are accountable to – which is the people that vote for them,” says Madida.

“The current system works, both for customers that smoke and buy liquor and for those that don’t. There has never been a problem with this and nobody has ever complained to us.”

He says that while he personally supports government’s objectives for a healthy nation, he cannot support regulations and laws that will kill businesses and employment in townships.

Madida calls on all township businesses, patrons and the community in general to write to the Departments of Trade & Industry and Health on the contact details below to voice their concerns.

You can email the dti on nramphele@ thedti.gov.za or fax 012 394 6573 and the Department of Health on mailaj@ health.gov.za