Liquor sales in spotlight

Residents want to review the licences of liquor outlets in the Bo-Kaap, including Harley's. Picture: Tracey Adams.

Residents want to review the licences of liquor outlets in the Bo-Kaap, including Harley's. Picture: Tracey Adams.

Published Dec 14, 2012

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The Bo-Kaap Civic Association says it is looking to “review” the liquor licences of other places selling alcohol in the area.

Last week the Western Cape High Court ruled in favour of the association and the Nurul Islam Mosque and agreed to set aside the liquor licence of a bar next to the mosque.

Osman Shaboodien, chairman of the civic association, said yesterday that they were not targeting bottle stores like Harley’s on Wale Street.

“We are not taking Harley’s to court…The new liquor act makes provision for us to review the licences of places once a year. And we are saying that it’s of no use to victimise one business (like Harley’s) but maybe it’s time for our community, and other communities in the province, to sit down and review the licences of these businesses as the licences were issued many years ago, during apartheid time, without the participation of residents,” Shaboodien said.

He said they wanted to review not only Harley’s but also other places that sell liquor in the Bo-Kaap like the Hilton Hotel, Midmar and Blakes Bar which is located across the road from Bo-Kaap on Buitengracht Street.

Shaboodien described Harley’s as a “public nuisance” not only because they sold liquor but also because they had no parking which blocked the traffic on the corner of Wale and Buitengracht streets.

“The place is a public nuisance when it comes to road usage because they have no parking which forces people to park in the streets and this blocks traffic. The other problem is their hours of trade where they operate late into the night and also trade on Sundays. And the bottle store is also about 30 metres from (Nurul Islam) Mosque,” he said.

He said that they would be looking at reviewing the liquor licences as early as next year, “this will be followed by a public participation process but I think the suggestion will be well received”.

He said they were not advocating the closure of all outlets but wanted “liquor authorities” to respect the rights of the residents.

A spokesman from Harley’s declined to comment. - The Cape Argus

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