A total of 13 474 bottles of alcohol were confiscated between Sunday December 1 and Thursday January 9, totaling 7 747.93 litres, according to the City’s Liquor Enforcement Unit.
By 15 January 2019, the unit had taken in 11 389Â bottles, totaling 7 299,72 litres.
Mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith, said: “The gap between last year’s confiscations and current will grow even more once the tallies are updated. The liquor enforcement unit is still booking in the weekend’s confiscations, so that won’t be reflecting yet, and we have significantly higher temperatures on the cards this week, which means the potential for further confiscations is high.”
Mr Smith said the statistics paint a very worrying picture.
“What’s even more frustrating is the lengths people go to, to conceal their actions. The watermelon filled with alcohol that was confiscated over the new year period is but one such example. This proves that they know their actions are illegal, but they forge ahead in any case.”
Once alcohol is confiscated, it’s booked into the City’s liquor pound in Ndabeni. The alcohol is destroyed if not collected within three months, in terms of the City’s impoundment policy.