Durban - King Goodwill Zwelithini has accused the KwaZulu-Natal Liquor Authority of destroying young people by allowing taverns to mushroom in urban and rural areas.
Addressing hundreds of people during the installation of Inkosi Mqoqi Ngcobo in Mzinyathi village, north of Durban, he questioned the agenda of the liquor authority in connection with the “shocking” number of taverns in the province.
Concerned about the impact of boozing on communities, he said he and traditional leaders would confront the authority.
“We need to have a talk with the liquor board. We should find out if its agenda is to protect the Zulu nation or to destroy it.
“The number of taverns is shocking. It is like a list of matric results,” he said.
The king said alcohol consumption was among the biggest causes of death, particularly in rural KZN.
“Maybe you (the liquor authority) have been instructed to kill as many people as possible. Some people get hit by vehicles while walking from these taverns, while others are stabbing each other.”
He said young people’s minds were being destroyed by alcohol abuse.
The KZN Liquor Authority falls under the province’s Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs.
Department spokesman Bheko Madlala said there was a stringent policy for the issuing of liquor licences.
“From April, the KwaZulu-Natal Liquor Authority granted 15 licences and closed 69 illegal outlets.
“The province has 7 900 licensed outlets,” said Madlala.
Earlier this year, the Department of Trade and Industry proposed a national liquor policy to amend the Liquor Act 59 of 2003.
The policy would make liquor traders, manufacturers and distributors liable for any harm or damage caused by inebriated people.
It also proposed that liquor outlets not be allowed within 500m of schools, places of worship and recreation facilities.
The policy has yet to be enforced.
The king regards young people of the Zulu nation as the royal army. He said next year they would commemorate 200 years since Shaka had united the Zulu nation.
He said the anniversary was worth celebrating as Shaka had worked tirelessly to build the Zulu kingdom.
“Even during the attack by foreign forces, the nation put aside its differences and united as Zulus to defend themselves. We can do the same when there is a need.”
He said the year-long celebration would show Zulu culture and traditional attire so the world could see the beauty of the nation.
A former school principal, Ngcobo is a key witness in the court case about infighting in the Nazareth Baptist Church between Mduduzi Shembe and his uncle Vela Shembe.
Ngcobo succeeds his late father, Inkosi Mzonjani Ngcobo, the former minister of roads and forestry in the defunct KwaZulu government, and a close associate of IFP president Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
The Mercury
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