About Us	Search	Advertising

	Brought to you by:

SHEBEENS have approached the Steenberg Community Police Forum to rally support for a "festive season arrangement" similar to the agreement that the Ocean View and Masiphumelele shebeens have with the Ocean View CPF and police station.

Kevin Southgate, Steenberg CPF chairperson, says shebeen owners have approached the CPF with a request that they support the "Christmas arrangement" and that the police refrain from raiding them and confiscating their liquor during this time.

"Currently, there are 13 applications for liquor licenses pending in the area," Southgate says.

"Eight of these have arrived in one month, mostly from the Cafda ?area. It is the money that is driving them," he adds.

Southgate says it is a unanimous agreement from the CPF that they will not support the licensing of any shebeens in the area.

However, the issue has been ?tabled for discussion at the next CPF meeting.

The Steenberg CPF will hold its plenary meeting at 19:30 on Wednesday, 21 November at the Steenberg police conference room in Cradock Road, Steenberg.

In Ocean View, the CPF has a different approach to the same issue.

Patricia Moatse, the chairperson the Ocean View CPF and the coordinator of the "shebeen project", says the project started five years ago in collaboration with the Department of Community and Safety.

Moatse explains that this arrangement directly affects the unlicensed shebeens in the area.

She emphasises that the success of the project is dependant on the commitment of the shebeen owners to adhere to the rules, as well as the commitment of the street watch monitors to make sure that all the shebeen owners stick to the rules of the arrangement.

Moatse says in Ocean View, a meeting was held with the shebeen owners to discuss the rules during this time.

These include:

? No children under 18 are allowed on the premises; and ? Shebeens are open from 08:00 to 20:00 from Mondays to Fridays and from 08:00 to 20:00 on Thursdays and Saturdays.

Southgate says that statistics have shown that there is a higher degree of crime in the presence of shebeens. Cafda will be the most affected if the "festive season arrangement" goes ahead, because the majority of the applications have come from the Cafda area, he says. Freddie Europa, chairperson of the Cafda Residents' Association and a member of the Steenberg CPF, says: "The Residents' Association will concur with the decision of the police forum, and we will not support any application for a liquor licence".

"However, on the other hand, a shebeen owner approached me with an interesting question: he said that petitions are always being drawn up against the legalisation of shebeens, but  why  are there never petitions in support of a shebeen?" Europa said.

"I told him he is free to draw up a petition. I am all for democracy, so we can see what the outcome will be," he said.

People's Post of 6 November reported that the shebeen owners met with Steenberg police on Thursday, 1 November to determine if unlicensed shebeens could obtain permits over the festive season and to determine if unlicensed shebeens could cooperate with the police, especially with the coming Christmas season.

Superintendent Adrian Saulse says, however, the stand of the police is clear: if a shebeen is illegal, it will be raided.

	Back to top
©