Nelson Mandela Bay metro police and the Eastern Cape Liquor Board got an earful from rowdy patrons at the weekend who accused the officials of “ruining the party” when they raided various taverns in Motherwell at the weekend.
Evidently unwelcome and having to walk past howling, unimpressed patrons, officials found a majority of the taverns were either without a valid liquor licence or had ignored earlier compliance notices.
But the patrons were not bothered with the lack of licences and instead vented their anger when officials turned down the music.
“We may be drunkards but we know our rights,” one woman yelled at M and N Place.
Some of the owners who could not produce a valid licence were in possession of proof of payment but had failed to collect their new documents.
Eastern Cape Liquor Board representative Anele Gatywa said owners were required to display or be in possession of a valid licence on the premises.
The officials visited the taverns between 9pm on Saturday and 1am on Sunday.
They spent about 30 minutes at each tavern, much to the annoyance of patrons who resorted to singing protest songs to keep the party going.
At Nomelumzi’s Tavern, officials found the owner was showing an outdated licence as she had not collected her new one.
Although Skulu’s Tavern owner provided a valid licence, authorities found that she was in violation of the Liquor Act for illegally trading food in a container in front of the tavern.
469 Bar Lounge and Butchery was also using an invalid licence even though a new one had been paid for.
The owner had also ignored a compliance notice issued in 2018 for failing to appoint a manager.
“It is compulsory that the owner officially appoints someone to sell alcohol at their tavern,” Gwatya said.
“It is illegal for someone to sell at the counter without having been officially appointed, with their names and identification submitted to the liquor board.”
At M and N Place, owner Mandisi Dlokolo’s temper flared as he refused to sign a compliance form to acknowledge the inspection and provide proof of identification.
Dlokolo eventually grabbed his tearful teenage son, demanding he write down the names and identity numbers of all the officials.
Meanwhile, patrons howled at the officials to leave.At Tax Tavern, patrons were a smaller and friendlier bunch who had no problem with the officials as long as they did not completely turn off the music.Officials found the owner to have ignored an earlier compliance notice for unhygienic toilets and a broken ceiling.Nolitha’s Tavern was the only one found compliant.The owner of Xoza’s Tavern also did not have a valid licence on the premises.Gwatya said all non-compliant taverns would be issued with notices on Monday and those who had not acted on previous compliance notices from the inspector would be issued with second notices directly from the board.Police senior superintendent Lwazi Ntombini said : “We are glad the Liquor Board has partnered with us for these operations. It has been a refresher and educational for myself, our police inspector and the team.”Ntombini said the municipality would look into providing more training for police to carry out inspections.