Mayor pours booze down the drain

More than 5000 bottles of alcohol confiscated on beaches this holiday season have been destroyed by the City of Cape Town.

Mayor of Cape Town Patricia De Lille, the mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith, and the member for social and early childhood development, Beverley Cortje-Alcock, poured all the alcohol down a drain at an Ndabeni storage facility.

The 2600 litres of confiscated alcohol were worth R66000. The haul of alcohol included cases of beer, ciders, brandy and champagne.

De Lille said: “One of the biggest problems around this time of year is people taking their alcohol to drink on beaches or other public spaces. Alcohol is banned on all city beaches. Our law enforcement officers will patrol the beaches over the festive season. We cannot be a society that condones personal entertainment without responsibility or consequences for illegal behaviour.

“We need to get rid of the stigma attached to Cape Town being the binge drinking capital of South Africa,” she said. (from the New Age)

Anti-drug campaign launched

Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini has told Khayelitsha residents they could not rely on government to combat substance abuse.

She was speaking at the launch of a drug abuse campaign in the Cape Town on Wednesday.

The minister said the non-governmental organisations in Khayelitsha should unite to help fight the abuse.

Dlamini also called on the community to unite with a common purpose.

She encouraged a group of former drug addicts to start studying and complete their education.

Referring to the increase in South African drug mules, Dlamini called on parents to be more vigilant.

She added drug pushers were targeting the vulnerable and poor.

- Eyewitness News