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Calls were made for more stringent regulation of liquor licences during a community safety GDS2040 meeting, as alcohol was found to be a major cause of crime and violence.
THE mushrooming of liquor shops across the city were blamed as the root cause of violence during a GDS2040 consultation meeting on community safety, held at Coca Cola Park on Thursday, 15 September.
 On the day, delegates from the Johannesburg metro police department and emergency management services, mayoral committee portfolio heads, the South African Police Service and non-governmental organisations came under one roof to discuss safety.
Running under the theme, “Breaking the cycle of violence”, the meeting was part of the City’s week-long focus on community safety, which ends on 17 September.
Speaking at the meeting, Susan Goldstein, from Soul City Institute and Development Communication, told delegates that the battle against violence and crime could not be won unless access to alcohol was regulated.
Goldstein, a former medical doctor who for a greater part of her career worked at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, said townships recorded the highest number of domestic violence, rape and murder cases, many occurring because of excessive alcohol consumption.
“There more you drink, the greater the chances of being a victim of violence. This mostly happens in poor communities were unemployed people often resort to taking alcohol as a refuge,” she said.
Bottle stores
Goldstein made reference to the inner city where there was an abundance of liquor shops. “On every street corner in the inner city there is a liquor shop,” she said, adding that the high rate of crime and domestic violence could be directly attributed to unregulated access to alcohol.
 Susan Goldstein: Alcohol should be regulated (Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)South Africa has one of the highest alcohol consumption rates in the world, at number seven, according Goldstein.
According to research conducted by the NGO Frontline Fellowship, it is estimated that up to 30 percent of general hospital admissions in South Africa are directly or indirectly related to alcohol use.
A clinical assessment of general hospital admissions found alcohol to be a contributing factor in general trauma cases: in 38 percent of the admissions in the Cape metropolitan area and 49 percent in rural communities, alcohol was found to be a contributing factor.
The study found that 48 percent of trauma patients admitted to the casualty department of Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital on a Saturday night were found to be intoxicated.
Liquor licences
Drawing from Goldstein‘s viewpoints, the metro chief of police, Chris Ngcobo, said liquor licensing boards must start consulting communities first before issuing liquor licences. “Communities are the right people; what is needed at a particular point and time.”
The City must force the licensing board to withdraw operating licences of shops that were open near schools, he added. “Parents, teachers and the school governing bodies must also get involved to ensure that our children are not exposed to this kind of environment.”
Ngcobo told delegates that the licensing board must conduct site visits to check compliance, before a licence could be granted.
Sport and recreation
Also giving his input, the regional director of Region F, Nathi Mthethwa, said sport and recreation should be used to keep children busy after school, preventing them from turning to crime, drugs and alcohol.
 MMC for public safety Matshidiso Mfikoe (Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)Mthethwa strongly suggested that recreational facilities such sports grounds, be made available to the community. “It is difficult to access most sports facilities in the city because they are semi-privatised.”
Parents must also play their role in educating their children about morality, he said. “I still believe we cannot build a healthy society without morals. You cannot smoke and drink in front of your children. Building a safe and secure community begins with personal accountability.”
Advertising
Maurice Smithers, the executive director of the Yeoville Bellevue Community Trust said alcohol advertising must also be regulated. “A number of billboards advertising alcohol send the wrong message to youngsters. I think we need to view this in a very serious light.”
Smithers also told delegates that abandoned buildings were a serious danger to the safety and security of the community. “Criminals hide in these buildings; they must either be demolished or sold to private companies,” he said.
Community Safety Week ends on 17 September; it will be followed by Environment Week, running from 19 to 23 September. To find out more about events and activities taking place during the week, as well as more about the GDS, you can go to the Facebook page or follow the GDS2040 on Twitter, @GDS2040. It also has a website.
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