Pretoria - Police have vowed to crack the whip on those breaking lockdown curfew.
SAPS spokesperson Captain Kay Makhubela said authorities would be on top of those owners and managers of establishments that continue to operate after the night curfew.
The warning also applied to residents who spent time at taverns, clubs and restaurants after midnight and find themselves travelling in the early hours of the morning while they were supposed to be indoors.
He said the MEC for Community Safety, Faith Mazibuko, and provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela and their entourage had to deal with more than 50 youths found partying in Finetown past the midnight curfew this past weekend.
President of the Concerned Tshwane Liquor Traders Association Oupa Mthombeni said this was a problem the organisation had encountered as some alcohol traders fail to close at midnight as per the regulations. “Another problem we are also facing is the issue of overcrowding in some taverns and pubs in the townships. We really get frustrated by this because it’s like the people have forgotten that Covid-19 hasn’t been defeated,” he said.
Mthombeni said the police had the full support of the organisation and were working with local authorities to curb this behaviour that threatens to undo the progress made in the battle against the pandemic.
Makhubela added that several people have been arrested for drinking in public.
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Pretoria News