The area is among the hotspots for murders and rapes in the province.last year’s mass shooting at a Pietermaritzburg tavern where four people were killed, raised concerns over security at these establishments.
Mkhwanazi says one of the taverns in KwaMashu did not have any security guards to search people coming into the facility. “We discovered that it is registered to sell liquor for the sit-in customers but they are not complying to that. They are treating this tavern as a takeaway of consumption as a bottle store so that is one violation, the security in terms of people coming in and out is not there and we know what happened previously in drinking spots where criminals would come in with firearms and they would shoot people inside and they leave.
Mkhwanazi says on-going police operations have also found a number of establishments allowing in under aged patrons. “But there are many others, the officials are working with the owner that they fine and everything be given to the owner and we hope that they are going to correct all the things but in general. In many other liquor establishments, we find youngsters, underage children especially the females that go to these drinking spots, and when they are drunk unfortunately, they become victims of other crimes like gender based-violence, rape and the likes.