Publications
Partners
The Liquor Authority (LA) received a tip-off from a resident that the trader was selling alcohol to local farmworkers and retaining their social SA security agency cards (Sassa), ID’s and bank cards as security for their debt, which is illegal.
The
Liquor Authority passed the information on to the police and a search warrant was obtained.
During a joint search of the premises on Friday, liquor inspectors and police officials found 58 identity documents, 14 Sassa cards and bank cards with pin numbers.
At
the time of the raid one of the farmworkers came to collect her Sassa card. The police obtained an affidavit from her and her card was returned.
The Liquor Authority and the police are still investigating the matter.
If found guilty, the bottle store owner faces a fine of up to R500 000 or two years' imprisonment.
Vulnerable
Thys Giliomee, the CEO of the Liquor Authority, said the matter had been reported to Sassa.
“This
is an area of great concern and we will be clamping down on this problem in the
months to come.
"Members of the community are encouraged to report this kind of irresponsible trading to the Liquor Authority and the police,” said Giliomee.
Alan Winde, the Western Cape minister in charge of liquor regulation, has called on the liquor authority and the police to exercise the full might of the law against this bottle store owner if he was found guilty.
“This is but one example of how unscrupulous traders are taking advantage of vulnerable communities.
"We urge every resident to join us in fighting this scourge and in sending out a clear warning to irresponsible traders that their behaviour is no longer acceptable in our society and won’t be tolerated.
"This issue also needs to be tackled on the side of the consumer in that residents should be mindful of getting into debt to buy booze,” Winde said.
