Cape Town - The connection between alcohol and crime took centre stage in the legislature as members put officials of both the Department of Community Safety and its entity the Western Cape Liquor Authority (WCLA) on the spot over their 2021/22 annual reports.
Standing Committee on Community Safety chairperson, Gillion Bosman (DA), said with 50% of murders in the province being linked to alcohol, the authority’s role could not be more important.
He wanted to know what sort of impact the authority’s increased inspection capacity was having.
Department head Yashina Pillay said the authority’s strategic objectives and operations were aligned to the deliverables of the provincial safety plan and the department’s work.
Pillay said the department had established an Alcohol Harms Reduction Task Team to drive amendments to the Western Cape Liquor Act.
She said the task team had embarked on a process to identify the regulatory enablers and inhibitors and various best buy measures such as reducing the unit price of alcohol and reducing the legal limit of blood alcohol content.
They were also looking into limiting the availability of alcohol as recommendations to minimise the socio-economic costs of excessive alcohol consumption.
On its inspection capacity, the department said this increased profoundly with the appointment of 24 junior liquor Inspectors.
As such, the liquor inspector-to-licence holder ratio has almost halved from the previous financial year to 1:270. This has thus translated into 13416 inspections being conducted, which is a 320% increase from 2017/18.
Ferlon Christians (ACDP) highlighted the conflict of the authority promoting an alcohol harms reduction policy while at the same time trying to drive revenue from alcohol sales.
Christians said: “On the one hand there are municipalities extending liquor trading hours and allowing Sunday trading, on the other hand the Community Safety Department is trying to reduce alcohol use. How do you balance these demands?”
WCLA chief executive Simion George said: “All role-players are currently looking for ways in which to align their systems and processes so as not to frustrate each other, but actually serve the same purpose.”
He said he had held a number of meetings and workshops with Salga, the City and other local authorities and that the WCLA had sharpened its focus towards effective regulation by prioritising and enabling the Liquor Licensing Tribunal in the determination of public interest.