Abundance of heroin confirmation that war on drugs in the Western Cape is lost.

The "war on drugs" has been lost.  There are more drugs, more people selling drugs, more people doing those drugs and more arrests each year.  80% of the SAPS' time spent on drugs is spent on cannabis, with only 20% focussed on all the other drugs including herion and tik. The misfocussing of resources has meant far less desireable drugs such as heroin and tik has spread widely, while the police have spent their time chasing a truly safe drug.

Heroin addiction has claimed the lives of at least three people in the Western Cape in the past three weeks and 32 since the start of the year.

Zampelli, also known as Franco, was found dead in a park in Bellville on June 18 after escaping from the Together We Can drug rehabilitation centre not far away.

A friend of Zampelli (who is also an addict) said: “I buy it for R40 for a quarter of a gram. Mostly, I buy seven quarters a day but sometimes I get up to 20. We stop in Durban Road (Bellville) and buy it from dealers, from Nigerians to Tanzanians and Moroccans, next to the road. I’ve got more than 10 dealers’ numbers on my phone. I’m banned from the local pharmacy because I was always trying to get them to give me needles.” (so much for the needle replacement talk in the NDMP of 1998)

The friend said he had lost six friends in the past year, all aged 24 to 30, to heroin addiction.

Sources said at least three people have died from heroin overdoses in the past three weeks, while 32 people have died this year. (from IOL)

Evidence of the failure of the war on drugs: 

Heroin only costs R160 a gram! How cheap is THAT!? Madness!

32 people have died from heroin this year (far short of the +50% of deaths alcohol is involved in)

The number of heroin cases on the court roll.

The number of arrests per annum (Western Cape ONLY):

2003/2004 - 19940

2004/2005 - 30432

2005/2006 - 34788

2006/2007 - 41067

2007/2008 - 45985

2008/2009 - 52781

2009/2010 - 60409

2010 /2011 -  70588 (source)

 

355990 arrest in 8 years. Each year more arrests than the previous. This is all evidence that the war on drugs has been lost. It's over. Now it's just a body count we can look forward to thank our politicians for.

Proponents of the war on drugs will argue that more of the same policy is needed to win. More resources and better policing will win this war they say. Would a 100 000 arrests for drugs be enough? How many arrests will be enough? The court rolls are full of these cases. If the accused is convicted or admits guilt and cannot immediately pay the fine they go to prison. Pollsmoors officials have admitted to me that they can do nothing for them, yet they are at their wits end as they numbers just keep escalating.  Each arrest requires the police to visit the residence of the arrested person to verify the accused lives at the address, taking up thousands of man and vehicle hours not to mention the cost of petrol. 

The actions of the police need close examination. The police are pushing young coloured people up against the wall and searching them with NO REASONABLE SUSPICION. Finding something is enough justification. Finding nothing means the searched person gets to go free - WOW! Young coloured people (in particular) living in poor neighbourhoods in Cape Town apparently have no right to privacy. 

  
I have written about the SAPS killing in the name of the war on cannabis. A good friend of mine was badly beaten by the police at the Atrium in Claremont because the ate the joint the police caught him with. Beaten, handcuffed and then peppersprayed by Arno Lamoer and 4 of his lackeys - with no resistance at all. Arresting people is not enough anymore?

The war is over. Sadly it was no contest. Recovering from this loss is going to take a change in policy and honesty about drugs.

DA Drug Tzar McNamara due in court for TIK

A senior Western Cape government official will appear in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on a charge of possession of the drug tik.

In April, David McNamara, 48, failed to appear in court and Magistrate Nasha Banwari directed the warrant be stayed until July 3, when McNamara, the provincial community development director, was scheduled to make his eighth court appearance.

His lawyer William Booth told the court McNamara was due for orthopaedic surgery on Saturday, and that the defence had informed the prosecuting authorities earlier in the week that circumstances prevented McNamara's appearance.

Banwari said the warrant would be executed if McNamara failed to appear in court again on July 3.

McNamara was arrested on June 28 last year, in the Cape Town CBD, allegedly in possession of a broken bottle neck, used as a pipe to inhale the fumes of burning the drug tik (crystal methamphetamine), and seven plastic bags containing tik residue.

The magistrate declared his R500 bail provisionally forfeited to the state, and said it would be finally forfeited if McNamara failed to attend the July 3 proceedings.

News of McNamara's arrest and court appearances only surfaced in February, when the provincial community development MEC, Albert Fritz, announced that McNamara had been placed on immediate leave, pending internal proceedings.

The department's special programmes unit, involved in combating drug abuse, was part of McNamara's portfolio. - Sapa

Did all hope die with Helen Suzman in 2009?

Helen Suzman was an absolute hero who always stood up for right. She passed away in 2009 and was given a hero's farewell. It was a sad day. Not least of all because of the loss of South Africa's most important cannabis activist. No other prominent politician has since taken up the cause or been brave enough to be honest and tell the truth about dagga. Helen was the best. By a long way.

"Helen Suzman exemplified courage and integrity. She visited prisons and campaigned for improved conditions. She was present at scenes of forced removals, and she reported on the living conditions in townships and rural areas. She exposed police torture and opposed separate development.

Throughout her long career she campaigned fearlessly against laws such as the Immorality Act, the Group Areas Act, Forced Removals, the Pass Laws and the Death Penalty. She was the only MP to vote against the Terrorism Bill of 1967. In an era of censorship, she raised critical issues in Parliament, enabling the press to publish information that would not otherwise have been made public." (Source)

In 1967, Suzman visited Nelson Mandela in prison on Robben Island for the first time. Remembering the visit, Mandela later said: "Mrs Suzman was one of the few, if not the only, member of Parliament who took an interest in the plight of political prisoners."

He added: "It was an odd and wonderful sight to see this courageous woman peering into our cells and strolling around our courtyard. She was the first and only woman ever to grace our cells."

When, as President of South Africa, Mandela bestowed on Suzman the Order of Meritorious Service in 1997, he said of her courage: "It is a courage born of the yearning for freedom; of hatred of oppression, injustice and inequity whether the victim be oneself or another; a fortitude that draws its strength from the conviction that no person can be free while others are unfree." 

"In a famous exchange a certain minister shouted: 'You put these questions just to embarrass South Africa overseas.' To which Helen coolly replied: 'It is not my questions that embarrass South Africa – it is your answers.'"

Helen Suzman on the fact that 44% of criminals tested positive for cannabis:

"So what"

I love that. So straight and to the point.

Helen Suzman to Cliff Scott, Sunday Tribune, about the headline “Dagga smoking should not be a crime says angry Suzman” she says “Somewhere or other lurking in the dark precincts of the Sunday Tribune is a Sub. who is determined to present me to the bleary-eyed public of Durban as a dagga-addicted commie!” 

She helped many people in her time: "In '77 got a rediculous 5 year sentence for dealing as I had over 115g, whereas I used to go to Swaziland to get my 6 week supply due to the cheapness and good quality. Served 16 months before Helen Suzman managed to get us all paroled."

"I can give you my comment and opinion on legalizing dagga but the fact of the matter is that I am of the old guard. People don't listen to me, not young white Jewish people and certainly not the black people whose freedom I fought for." (2005)

There is a Helen Suzman Boulevard in Cape Town which is unsurprising since it's Cape Town and the DA are in charge round here.  South Africa hasn't issued a stamp with Mrs Suzman's likeness on it, however Liberia Sierra Leone and  (The story of the stamp)

With Helen Suzman gone there is no one willing to pick up the torch and tell the truth as it is. When Helen Suzman died all hope died.

Draft smoking law too restrictive

The draft regulations on smoking in public places and certain outdoor public places are too restrictive, the Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa (Tisa) said on Monday.

“Although the tobacco sector supports the regulation of smoking in public places… (it) is excessively restrictive,” Tisa CEO Francois van der Merwe said in a statement.

Tisa had submitted comments to the department of health highlighting certain concerns. When the Tobacco Products Control Act 1993 was passed into law it made provision for the minister to prescribe regulations for designated indoor smoking areas, he said. Now the draft regulations prohibited smoking indoors.

“This, we believe, is not in line with the spirit and purpose of the act,” said Van der Merwe.

He said banning indoor smoking areas would effectively make it illegal to have vending machines selling tobacco products. In terms of the act, vending machines were allowed to be placed only in designated indoor smoking areas.

Van der Merwe said Tisa also felt that Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi had acted beyond the powers given to him in the act.

“We could not find any provision in the act empowering the minister to prescribe that people cannot be served food, beverage, or be entertained or that 'smokers are to be discouraged from remaining in the area longer than is necessary to smoke a cigarette',” he said.

“We also believe that there are certain clauses in the draft regulations that are vague and uncertain.”

One of these was the draft regulation prohibiting smoking on beaches “not less that 50 metres away from the closest person near the demarcated swimming area”.

Van der Merwe said public smoking laws needed to be practical and enforceable, and fair to both smokers and non-smokers.

“We believe that the existing regulations on smoking in public places… work well and provide for both smokers and non-smokers.

“We believe that additional enforcement and not additional regulations will be more effective.” (from IOL)

The law is too restrictive to the point of madness. I am not a smoker. Never have been never will. I don't like smoking. It is important to maintain a semblance of balance, rationality and fairness. If someone smokes you need to understand that they are addicted to the nicotene. Even if they want to quit they can't or haven't managed to summon up the will power to quit. Addiction is a complicated thing and each drug is unique and different. Just say KNOW.

DA want the narcotics unit back

The DA has called for the narcotics unit to be reinstated after it emerged from a UN report that the country is the key in producing tik and that dagga and heroin use has escalated. (Which is worse. That dagga use has escalated or heroin? 80% of the SAPS's time is spent on cannabis. That leaves 10% for ALL the other drugs, including heroin and tik. Chasing the less harmful of the drugs while studiously ignoring the worst ones has consequences. Heroin is a dead end death drug. Cannabis hasn't killed anyone in the last 20 years in South Africa. Priorities have consequences and the consequences in Cape Town have been disaterous. A large proportion of Cape Town's magistrate's criminal court roll is drug related, with court 23 hearing drugs exclusively - all day long every day and all the other courts hearing matters from within their jurisdiction.)
 

The UN World Drug Report, released on Thursday, says dagga is the drug most people seek treatment for in Africa.

SA produces large amounts of tik, which is smuggled through the southern African region.

According to the report, more than 1 percent of the SA population uses the highly addictive drug, but 64 percent of people seeking help are in rehab for dagga use.

Mike Waters, DA spokesman on social development, says he will write to Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini asking her to take urgent steps to promote, within the cabinet, the reinstatement of the narcotics bureau. (Where does Mike Waters get his drug advice from? If you need drug advice ask your doctor if you're really stuck. Just ask.)

He would also like to see an anti-drug unit within SAPS, separate from the narcotics bureau, which would specialise in anti-drug patrolling and investigations as well as tightening restrictions on bail for drug offences.

Waters also wants drug master- plans for all government departments and a strategy review committee. (The National Drug Master Plan is a JOKE. None of the numbers are remotely correct and even contradict each other. What is the "plan"? There is no "plan" other than to prohibit EVERYTHING. To have a DRUG FREE SOUTH AFRICA. That's right folks - DRUG FREE. No drugs at all. This truly unrealistic aim has resulted and hundreds of thousands of arrests and criminal convictions since 1998.)

He says anyone convicted on a charge of drug dealing should not be eligible for bail if arrested on the same charge. (Bail is a right granted in the constitution. If you want to stop people from getting bail you'll have to change the constitution. Man hasn't thought of that but he's going for it now. Whatever happened to the presumption of innocence?)

According to the report, dagga and heroin are the two main substances contributing to demand for treatment for illicit drug use in Africa, with 64 percent of all treatment for drug use reportedly provided for disorders related to dagga use.

Sarah Fisher, executive director of the Substance Misuse, Advocacy, Research and Training (Smart) organisation said: “Codeine is an opioid and sold over the counter in SA; we have no idea how many people are having problems as a result of this.” (We have no idea. NO IDEA... how big this problem is.  Or what the actual problem is.)

While tik used to be imported into the countries of southern Africa, now it is being produced here and smuggled to neighbouring states.

In 2010, an increase in heroin users was observed in south Asia and in east and south-east Asia in particular, but experts from many African countries also reported a perceived increase in the use of heroin. (The reason for this is that we have no statistics to work off. The CDA actually produce none.)

This suggests that a relative shift of the burden of the global drug problem from the developed countries to the currently developing countries will continue over the coming decades. (from IOL)

There you have it folks. The drug war. Soon to be intensified in a neighbourhood near you. The war is lost. Sometimes you need to know when to advance and sometimes you need to know when to retreat. 

The law is wrong. The law truly lacks nuance when it comes to drugs. You need to have taken the drugs and know the law to really know this. So take it from me. The law is wrong. It is irrational to not have a law against public drunkness while arresting people for cannabis. 66% of pedestrians killed are drunk. More than 50% of non natural deaths are related to alchohol, yet it is legal and oh so freely available.

The MRC has admitted that no one in South Africa has died from cannabis in the last 20 years. People have been killed by the police because of cannabis and tens of thousands of people have criminal convictions and records because of it. Unfortunately the DA have embraced the war on drugs because it gets them the votes of parents on the flats. Tik is a massive problem and it's going to continue getting worse if the policy remains unchanged.  Tik has infiltrated the higher end of society all the way down into the townships, all the way into the shacks. Ultimately both parties in power have failed the people by not being honest about drugs.

2012 Olympic village pub alcohol free

 According to businessman Charles Allen, mayor of the Olympic village, both the food on offer and the surroundings in which it is served have been designed to give overseas visitors a taste of the real Britain. "If you look around, it does feel like London – it does feel like Hyde Park," he said. "[People will be] having British street food; they'll be having fish and chips, they'll be having burgers… And then there's the whole thing about effectively having a British pub."

Ah, the pub. While the village's Globe centre does indeed have pool tables, live music and rockaoke, it differs from the typical boozer in one quite key respect: look along the shelves behind the bar and you'll find only two refreshment options: Coca-Cola and Powerade.

Athletes looking for a little alcoholic aid in making temporary friends will instead have to rely on charm, superior musculature and medals. (from the Guardian)

If nothing else the village will be a safe place. No fighting, no arguing, no embarrassing behaviour, no vomitting... no alcohol.

Western Cape police seize R30million (allegedly) worth of drugs in 3 months

Western Cape police have seized over R30 million in illicit drugs in the last three months, provincial police commissioner Arno Lamoer said last Thursday. (For anyone who follows this blog will be aware of the consistent funny accounting of the SAPS)

“We urge communities that the demand for drugs must go down. As long as there is a demand for drugs, there will be a supply,” he told reporters in Cape Town. (There will always be a demand for drugs. The supply of drugs will also always be there. Believing the police have the ability or the capability to prohibit the subtances out of existence is wishful thinking)

He could not estimate the number of drugs in circulation, as they entered and exited the province too quickly. It was also too easy to manufacture drugs.  “Tik”  (methamphetamine) could be made in a kitchen. (The commissioner has no clue. You'd imagine he'd have a clue by now, but no such luck. No wonder heroin and tik have spread so widely so quickly.) Lamoer said there was a clear link between taking drugs and other crimes. (Such as? The link between drugs and crime is a tautology - drugs are illegal... people who do drugs are criminals? )

Since April this year, the State had secured 5 400 convictions for drug-related crimes, including murder and attempted murder. (from IOL)

What the commissioner isn't saying is that alcohol causes the most violence before the courts and alcohol is legal. 65% of people killed in homocides in 2008 had alcohol in them. Does Ellen Pakkies count as a drug related crime? Or when the police shoot and kill someone in the attempt to arrest them? The best the commissioner can do is "urge" communities? Nothing more? Just that? We urge communities that the demand for drugs must go down. This man does not understand drugs. He has no experience with them, other than arresting people for them. Clearly he is a confused individual and we're all living the consequences.

Township Liquor Industry Association against proposed new anti-smoking regulations

The Township Liquor Industry Association has come out against proposed new anti-smoking regulations, saying they will hurt township-based shebeens and taverns.

"We are not sure how to implement the draft regulations, as township-based shebeens and taverns operate in unique circumstances," the association's president Tembile Ntlokwana said on Friday.

"We are also not happy with government for telling us how to run our business without consulting us."

Draft regulations proposed by the health department will criminalise smoking in any building, outdoor venue, public or private beach, outdoor drinking or eating area, park, walkway, parking area, or within 10m of any door or window.

The association said it was concerned about the safety implications for tavern patrons in high-crime areas, and about the effect the smoking ban on the livelihood of its members.

It represents liquor traders in Western Cape townships.

"By turning away our smoking patrons, or having to police them and essentially treat them like lepers, we will lose business [and] revenue, and will be forced to retrench our workers and shut our doors," Ntlokwana said.

The group has invited Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi to visit the townships taverns to appreciate the impracticality of implementing the new, more stringent anti-smoking regulations in such environments.

Current regulations governing public smoking worked well, and the association's voluntary regulations were effective in satisfying both smoking and non-smoking patrons.

The draft regulations disrespected their rights as business owners, and those of their smoking patrons.

The Free Market Foundation, horse racing business Gold Circle, and vending machine association Toba Vending have also made submissions contesting the department's proposals. (from News24)

The alcohol industry supporting the tobacco industry. I do hope Minister Motsoaledi takes the liquor traders up on their offer and visits their establishments. If the regulations are accepted the world is going to be covered in no smoking signs.

Central Drug Authority continues preaching stupid international war on drugs

About 230 million people or 5 percent of the world’s adult population are believed to have used an illicit drug at least once in 2010, the World Drug Report says.

The use of illicit drugs along with their accessibility and the impact they have on young adults continue to be a worrying problem which authorities worldwide are struggling to combat and bring under control.

The Central Drug Authority (CDA) said different tactics and avenues needed to be explored to fight the usage and distribution of drugs.

CDA deputy chairman David Bayever said there was no single approach to fighting the problem such as criminalising or decriminalising substance usage as drug manufacturers were always one step ahead of authorities. There needed to be a plan to tackle and ensure market, supply and farm reduction. (There is. It is called the National Drug Master Plan and it has failed us twice already.)

“We have to address substance abuse and intensify our fight to ensure that our youth are protected. Also, that the right messages are given to them to help them make the right decisions. We have to keep up with the international changing landscape and how this affects us,” he said.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime southern Africa regional representative, Mandiaye Niang, painted a grim picture of how the production of opium had increased in Afghanistan. It is the world’s biggest opium producer while the rest of the world is faced with rising levels of synthetic drug production.

“Cannabis (dagga) remains the world’s most used illicit herb. It has grown and is trafficked in almost every country in the world,” he said. What he didn't say was WHY? WHY is it so popular? Is it because people have learned that it is SAFE?

The report, said cannabis remained the most widely used illicit substance globally, with an estimated annual prevalence in 2010 of 2.6 percent to 5.0 percent of the adult population (between 119 million and 224 million users aged 15 to 64).

Overall, annual prevalence of cannabis use remained stable in 2010 (2.8 percent to 4.5 percent of the adult population in 2009).

The highest prevalence of cannabis use is being reported in Oceania (essentially Australia and New Zealand) at 9.1 percent to 14.6 percent, followed by North America (10.8 percent), western and central Europe (7.0 percent) and west and central Africa (5.2 percent to 13.5 percent).

In 2010, experts from many countries in west and central Africa, southern Africa, south Asia and central Asia reported a perceived increase in cannabis use. Niang added that Africa and Asia were now the new emerging heroin markets and there had also been an increase in SA.

In 2010, an increase in heroin users was observed in Asia, but experts from many African countries also reported a perceived increase in the use of heroin.

Bayever admitted that their organisation had realised how problematic heroin was becoming in the country. “Heroin is becoming a bigger problem. Drug traffickers have realised that there is a demand for it and they are exploiting that.” (from IOL)

David Bayever has no clue. Heroin has become entrenched during his reign at the CDA. Tik - aka methamphetamine - has also seen a massive explosion in usage in South Africa in the last 10 years. All while he has been "in charge". Whatever we're doing it's not working. What we have been doing has been implementing the National Drug Master Plan of 1998 and 2006. These plans were pure prohibitionism built on the aim of a "drug free South Africa". These are the plans which does not include alcohol in its definition of drug. These are the plans under which alcohol was placed under the Department of Trade and Industry. Average alcohol consumption doubled from 10lt a person to 20lt a person between the first plan at the second plan. A wave of deaths has followed CDA's dishonesty regarding what alcohol is and what it does. The first plan called for research into the decriminalisation of cannabis... something which was never done. The results are in and they are not pretty. The war on drugs has failed. Thousands of arrests and criminal convictions can be laid at the foot of Mr Bayever. The National Drug Master Plans have failed. David Bayever has no idea the damage criminal convictions for drugs cause, let alone incarcerations for miniscule amounts of drugs. The consequences are far worse than the drugs themselves. David Bayever is a fraud who should stop lying about drugs and get back to working as a pharmacist.

Dagga for sale in Cape Town

Once upon a time it was legal to advertise, buy and sell Dagga in Cape Town. Advert from Cape Argus, 2 January 1896.

In 1923 dagga was made illegal in that year's Customs and Excise Act. Ever since then there have been thousands of arrests with no justification for why.

The health "excuse" used by the government just doesn't wash. There have been no deaths from cannabis. There is some mental illness and adverse reaction for less than 1% of people, but this is no reason to lock up people who aren't affected. The war on drugs is both  puritanical madness and politically attractive which makes it a true recipe for disaster.

An increase in arrests each year is symptomatic of a failing policy. Whatever "they" are doing it is making things worse. If the drugs are habit forming then those with a habit should be punished? Madness!

Also for sale was Dop Brandy.... Dop Brandy for the Dop System... the enslavement of the workers through alcohol. Alcohol is so much more dangerous and is far more freely availble today than it has ever been. A wave of violence, death and misery has accompanied the doubling of the average alcohol consumption in the 8 years from 1998 to 2006.

Cape Wine Works change packaging for Mal Jan Wine

A local wine company has altered the packaging of its "Mal Piet" wine cartons after it was criticised for looking like children's cooldrink.

The 250ml juice boxes are brightly coloured and feature a large cartoon-like grinning goat.

On Monday, Western Cape Economic Development MEC Alan Winde criticised the packaging and said though it was not illegal, it was certainly irresponsible.

"We want responsible liquor traders in the Western Cape, not this... This is not a responsible way of selling liquor," he told reporters in Milnerton, Cape Town.

"The way the marketing and packaging is done, it does not look like wine. It looks like cooldrink or kiddies' juice."

Cape Wine Works, which manufactures the product, had a meeting with Winde and said it would change its packaging.

Managing director Michael Kovensky told Sapa the new cartons would display a logo with a wine glass to make it less misleading.

He believed the responsibility remained with parents to ensure alcohol products were not within easy reach, and that children were educated about the effects of liquor.

It was still doubtful though whether educational initiatives would overcome the perception created by the easy availability of alcohol in supermarkets and stores, he said.

"Liquor has always been the scapegoat of many initiatives that pop out... over the five years the product has been on the shelf you will get random complaints, but you deal with it.

"The colours [of the cartons] have nothing to do with children. If you look at the design of wine labels now... you get all kinds of innovative, creative labelling."

He said the product was packaged in a small carton with a straw as it was aimed at those wanting to drink while in the bush, specifically campers and game rangers.

It was also aimed at those with a limited disposable income. An individual carton sold for about R5, and a six-pack about R30.

"We shouldn't hold ourselves so aloof that those with a disposable income living in warm surrounds should look askance at people who can't afford to buy other products," Kovensky said.

The altered packaging would likely be on the shelves within four months.

Winde said on Wednesday he was pleased Cape Wine Works had heeded his call.

"I commend Kovensky for doing the right thing. In the coming months we will be vigorously monitoring other liquor outlets and distributors to ensure that they are operating responsibly." (from News24)

Don't Start... With wine for kids

Finance and Economic Development MEC Alan Winde has slammed a local wine manufacturer for packaging alcohol in colourful containers resembling “kiddies’ juice”.

Addressing Dunoon liquor traders on Monday, Winde said Mal Piet, a rosé sold in colourful 250ml containers with a mini-straw attached, should be banned. Packaging wine in containers that were “appealing to children” was irresponsible and should not be on the shelves.

The 250ml cartons, manufactured by Cape Wine Works in Milnerton, are sold at R5 each and R30 for a pack of six.

“We want responsible liquor traders in the Western Cape, not this,” said Winde, holding up a pink carton of Mal Piet.

“This is not a responsible way of selling liquor. The way the marketing and packaging is done, it does not look like wine. It looks like cooldrink or kiddies’ juice.”

Mal Piet comes in pink, light blue and yellow packaging.

Winde said that if his daughter saw the Mal Piet container in the kitchen, she would drink it because it looked like a kiddie drink. “This is completely unacceptable,” he said.

But Cape Wine Works director Rein Myburgh said Mal Piet had been sold and packaged in colourful containers “for years”.

“The product went through a design process and has been packaged in accordance with the law,” Myburgh said. “Mal Piet is not at all aimed at under-aged drinkers or children. We are a responsible company.”

Asked why the cartons were colourful and had a mini-straw attached, Myburgh said: “It went through a design process many years ago and everything was approved that way. It was not intended to be appealing to children.”

Nick Spencer of the Western Cape Liquor Authority said while the packaging was not illegal, it was irresponsible.

He said the authority would send the Mal Piet containers for a “product test” to ensure that they were “completely above board”.

“This is irresponsible trading, marketing and advertising,” Spencer said. “We were alerted that the product was being sold at a number of outlets on Saturday and will send it for a product test.”

Spencer said the liquor authority and Winde’s office had been trying to get hold of Myburgh since Friday.

“While we’ve sent the product for testing, the MEC will try to set up a meeting with the manufacturers to ensure that something is done to change the way the wine is packaged,” he said.

About 11 Dunoon liquor traders attended the Liquor Act information session hosted by the provincial government on Monday.

There are 22 licensed liquor traders in Dunoon and an estimated 40 illegal shebeens in the area.

The new act came into effect on April 1 this year. Traders were warned to check with their municipality about when they could operate, as this was dictated by zoning regulations and by-laws.

Under the new act, individuals could face up to five years in jail, or a R1 million fine, for the most serious contraventions, including trading without a licence and selling alcohol to children. (from IOL)

The insane war on drugs at Cape Town International Airport

Cape Town’s elite border police unit operates with stealth. The job requires it. And without it, they concede, they would not have the upper hand.

 

The ingenuity and eternal inventiveness of drug mules and their handlers means that the men and women of this little-known unit at Cape Town International Airport need to keep their eyes peeled and their instincts sharp for the attempted daily deceptions they encounter.

Last year, 34 drug mules were arrested in Cape Town with drugs to the value of R7.5 million.

A visit to the unit revealed the challenge the squad faces and the creative ways people have of smuggling contraband. They pack drugs inside boxes of rusks and breakfast cereal and stuff drugs into luggage handles. Even condoms are filled with cocaine, tik and heroin.

The unit’s successes have led drug syndicates to try other methods of getting their contraband into the province. Police are now investigating whether traffickers are using Beaufort West as an alternative route to the airport.

As travellers head through the domestic arrivals terminals, many are oblivious to the many pairs of eyes watching their movements, their clothing, their body language and their luggage. Designated profilers look out for telling details that could lead them to traffickers.

“When you leave here today, I will remember exactly what you are wearing, right down to your earrings,” a profiler told the Cape Argus. The profiler, whose identity has to remain a secret, tells how every detail is important.

Colonel Anton Olivier, who heads the airport’s unit, was instrumental in setting up searches at the domestic arrivals terminal at the airport.

He said the clampdown at domestic arrivals had been started in 2008 “as a coincidence”.

“We studied our legislation and saw that we had so much more power than we thought, so we rolled it out and within the first or second day, 1kg of tik was found,” Olivier said.

He said that in 2009, 2010 and 2011, the police station at Cape Town International had handled more drugs “than anywhere else in the province”.

“In our first quarter, we had 44kg of tik just at domestic arrivals.”

The airport’s police duties also extend to the areas within a 10km radius of the airport.

“This week we didn’t find drugs but we did find the fraudulent passports… sometimes it happens, other times we find nothing,” he said.

On average the terminal sees about 11 000 people moving through arrivals, and of those about 25 to 50 could be searched “on a very good day”, Olivier said.

He said their biggest challenge was high-profile passengers who refused to be searched. “For every 500 people we search, about 499 are innocent – so we do get a lot of complaints,” he said.

People often said they were being discriminated against and said the police were racist, he added.

“We really do get a lot of hidings from the public – especially from VIPs– and it becomes a challenge for constables to stand up to them, but so far we’ve been standing our ground… Everyone is innocent until we open the suitcase,” Olivier. They also kept a list of the people they search, he revealed.

The number of baggage pilfering cases had also reduced dramatically: “It used to be about 60 to 80 cases a month and now we’re dealing with about 30, and of those maybe 10 cases are where people have forgotten they moved things in their baggage.”

The unit makes use of sniffer dogs when conducting certain operations such as searching for ivory, and also uses camera profiling – looking out for suspicious activity on CCTV footage.

“But 99.9 percent of the time we make use of the profiling,” said Warrant Officer Granville Meyers.

“You’ll find things here everyday, but you must be curious (about people) because anybody is a suspect even if they wear suits,” he said. (from IOL)

Hardly an "elite unit" when 99.9% of the time they are just profiling people and get it WRONG 499 out of 500 times - by their own admission. What good is "profiling" people if they get it wrong so often? 499 false accusations followed by one lucky/unlucky arrest. The article doesn't say what law other than the Criminal Procedure Act they are relying on. The need for reasonable suspicion is gone. Citizens have no right to privacy nor have the right to not have their belongings searched without some cause. 1 arrest for every 500 searches is terrible. You'd do a lot better on the streets of Cape Town or Mitchellsplein or Woodstock.

Health authorities are working at tightening the anti-smoking laws

Health authorities are working at tightening the anti-smoking laws and are proposing a total ban on outdoor smoking, which would make it illegal to puff away in open spaces such as beaches.

Stadiums, zoos, parks, open-air restaurants and beer gardens would all be affected. At beaches, smoking would be allowed only at least 50m away from the nearest person.

But, before introducing any new law, the health ministry will throw open the door for proposals in public discussions next week.

According to the Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa, there are 7.7million adult smokers in South Africa - 30% down on the number 10 years ago - who last year smoked an estimated 27billion cigarettes.

It is the second time in five years that South Africa has tried to amend its legislation to make it even harder for smokers to indulge in their habit.

Even before the regulations are debated and final decisions made, smokers are fuming, labelling the plans "extreme", "shameless" and an intrusion on people's rights.

 

"It's a kind of hysteria, a peculiar semi-religious fundamentalist puritanism," said Leon Louw, director of the Free Market Foundation, which is pushing for an open society free of arbitrary regulations.

Louw believes the regulations are a "vicious assault'' on peoples' choices and lifestyles, saying passing the regulations could constitute a breach of freedom and result in job losses.

"The anti-tobacco fanatics ... the nicotine nazis will not stop until there is full prohibition," he said.

In 2007 lawmakers approved a litany of changes that sought to close loopholes in the Tobacco Products Control Act of 1993.

On Wednesday the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld the act's blanket ban on tobacco adverts.

It rejected a suit brought by British American Tobacco SA, which argued that the restrictions infringed on the company's free-speech rights.

Buoyed by the case, anti-smoking lobbyists are rejoicing at the latest stringent proposals.

"It goes the next step towards protecting health and we think it will work practically," said Peter Ucko, director of the National Council Against Smoking.

Pro-smoking lobbyists argue that enforcing such a broad ban would be impossible but Ucko insisted the laws will work.

Since the 2007 regulations "no one smokes in malls anymore", he said.

Hoteliers appear to be unfazed by the pending changes.

"There might be certain discomfort for restaurants and pubs, but for the hotels I don't think there will be an impact from the revenue point of view," said Eddie Khosa, of the Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa.

If the changes are adopted, South Africa would be the first African country to go smoke-free.

De Lille disses druks and alcohol but only sings about one