Durban - With the first week under level 3 lockdown done and dusted, emergency and security organisations have attributed the increase in traumatic incidents to the partial lifting of the ban on the sale of alcohol.
Dr Zanele Bikitsha, South African Medical Association KwaZulu-Natal Coastal branch chairperson, said they had seen an increase in the number of trauma incidents in hospitals such as stabbings, assaults and motor vehicle crashes.
She said they had been expecting this to happen with the relaxation of the regulations as the incidents they dealt with normally related to alcohol. Bikitsha said this affected the number of beds they had available at hospitals which was critical in the response to Covid-19.
She said they needed more specialist doctors and nurses as they had an increased workload.
Bikitsha said the doctors were already working “flat out”.
RescueCare spokesperson Garrith Jamieson said they dealt with many more crashes and trauma events at the weekend than previously. One of the regulations of level 3 lockdown is that liquor stores are not allowed to sell alcohol from Friday to Sunday.
According to the regulations gazetted by Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, alcohol can be sold from Monday to Thursday between 9am and 5pm.
Umesh Singh, chairperson of the Phoenix Community Policing Forum, said: “When alcohol sales reopened, you found an increase in the number of incidents. We have seen an increase in the number of domestic violence cases.”
What also worried him was that stores were not controlling the amount of alcohol they sold to customers. “People were buying in bulk buying trolley loads of alcohol,” he said.
Singh also noticed that people were now no longer practising physical distancing, not wearing masks and were having social gatherings. He said taverns were also not obeying rules by keeping sales to the restricted times.
Metro Police commissioner Steve Middleton said bottle stores were closed during the weekend and that most had been compliant. They were continuing with vehicle check points. “With level 3 there’s actually less to police. Overall our policing is similar, but with less infringements.”