Concerned Tshwane Liquor Traders Association president Oupa Mthombeni outside his business. Picture: Jacques Naude/African News Agency (ANA)
Pretoria - The Concerned Tshwane Liquor Traders Association has reiterated that alcohol should not be sold to underage customers.
Its president Oupa Mthombeni yesterday called on traders to comply with this and all regulations.
He was speaking in the wake of the Eastern Cape’s Enyobeni tavern tragedy, where 21 children between the ages of 13 and 17 died at the weekend. “I am so hurt after this incident that there are still taverns that sell alcohol to children or even allow them inside their premises,” he said.
“We have been preaching this to the government to say liquor traders must belong to an association. When they are under an association, it is the responsibility of the organisation to educate members about compliance. That is how they can solve the problem.”
He said their members are very compliant. “We talk to them every day."
He said greed was one major downfall, and some traders did not seem to care how alcohol destroyed society; they only focused on money.
“We need to change our attitude. We need to make sure that liquor traders are really complying. We need to make compliance a priority.”
Mthombeni said liquor traders had to demand identification if they doubted that their customer was of legal age to buy or consume alcohol. He recommended that the legal drinking age be moved to 21 instead of 18.
He says he has for a long time been calling for the banning of the so-called pens down events, saying they brought all sorts of wrong and danger to children.
“They get drunk and get out of order. The same applies to Youth Day events on June 16, which are commemorated in taverns. Those are the things that are creating problems. They have no value to society.”
Mthombeni said families were continuously left crying after events that attracted young customers.
“You hear stories that children have been raped, gone missing, or assaulted. What we are saying is that we need to stop these pens down and other events.”
He said there should be no compromise when it comes to closing down taverns, and the liquor board must revoke the licence of those that are not complying.
“We cannot allow things like this to happen. I mean, if a child of 13 or a 15 is at a tavern drinking alcohol, it shows that those traders are not responsible or compliant.”
He said Enyobeni was not the only tavern not compliant.
“We have been talking about underage drinking for the longest time, and it is a serious problem. If the government could make law enforcement work harder, things like this will not happen.
“The police are also corrupt and they are only looking for bribes and do not want to do their job properly.
“We are losing our children unnecessarily.”
Pretoria News