RESPONSIBLE TRADING
S V N E E B E ILLEGAL SH N R E V A T L A LEG
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Illegal shebeens Although Merriam Kumalo* is aware of the pitfalls of running a shebeen, she is vehemently against stopping – because the money is good. Kumalo runs a shebeen in the heart of old Alex, which is a hive of activity with customers strolling in to buy bottled beer and traditional variants of home brew, better known in township lingo as ‘imbamba’ or ‘isqatha’. She is constantly harassed by the police, who issue spot fines for trading without a licence, and in some instances, confiscate all her stock. What makes matters worse is that police officers soon realise that there is a gold mine in form of bribes. They demand that Merriam pays them a bribe in return for not being fined or having her stock confiscated. 14
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“What this amounts to is that each time the cops are broke, they will raid my shebeen, demanding the ‘cooldrink’ money. I’ve become a money-making machine for them.” She said the police have a tendency to raid her ‘spotong’ at particular times, when it is full of customers so they can make even more money through bribes. They even demand bribes from her customers to avoid being arrested and charged with patronising an illegal beer outlet.
to share my money with the taxman and be subjected to various rules and regulations, such as when to sell and when not to sell, and to whom. “All the money I make from beer sales goes into my pocket. If I legalise my shebeen, I will have to start paying tax, paying licence fees, and adhere to certain trading times and hours and be told not to sell to minors too.”
Without disclosing how much she makes for fear of being targeted by robbers, she said she will never quit the business. “They may raid me, take my stock and harass my patrons but I will never stop operating a shebeen.
“Selling to minors does not mean I am reckless. I sell to minors that are sent by their parents. I know my customers and each time a new face comes around I worry because I do not know the motive behind the visit. If it’s a minor, I chase him or her away until the parents come themselves to introduce me to the child,” she said.
“The money I make here is good and this is tax-free money. I do not want to register because then I will have
Kumalo says she will die a shebeen queen as she does not see herself returning to domestic work again. “I
