Pick n Pay in Camps Bay has withdrawn its application for a liquor licence following negotiations with the Camps Bay and Clifton Ratepayers’ Association (CBCRA) and the Community Police Forum (CPF).
“The liquor licence application for the Camps Bay store will be withdrawn with immediate effect” said Chris Willemse, chair of the CBCRA.
“The CBCRA and CPF is grateful that the executive team from Pick n Pay, led by Mr Jarett van Vuuren, took the time to listen to the community concerns which were raised and their understanding of the underlying problems with liquor licences in the suburb,” he said.
Mr Willemse said they don’t want the social ills associated with alcohol sales and consumption at Camps Bay beach.
“There is a school nearby and it won’t be right to be selling alcohol in this area. We don’t want the social problems that come with the sales of liquor,” he said.
“I know that there were beach goers who brought there own alcohol and they were inebriated, they didn’t mind their children and one of the kids drowned, we don’t want to exacerbate situations like this,” he said.
“When tourists visit here and they buy a bottle of wine and sit on the beach and drink, they face the possibility of being arrested as they are not familiar with our laws. So this is another problem we want to avoid.”
In a response, Pick n Pay said: “We are always respectful of communities where we trade. We met with the ratepayers’ association and agreed to work closely with them in the future on these matters.”
Caro Smit, director of South Africans Against Drunk Driving (SADD), welcomed the news regarding the withdrawal of the liquor licence.
“The people have power, the people want alcohol abuse to go down, they want less car crashes and this is fantastic news,” said Ms Smit.
Ms Smit said SADD was working on a campaign to lower the speed limit in neighbourhoods.
“We need to get it down to 30 kilometres per hour, there’s schools nearby, lots of pedestrians and cyclists on the road and we need to bring down the deaths on the road. People can contact SADD so we may work on this together,” she said.
The Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance said they were also pleased that the application had been withdrawn.
“We have a problem with density already and there are too many liquor outlets in our communities,” said Terri-Liza Fortein, the communications manager at SAAPA.
She added that SAAPA research had shown that the more liquor outlets there were, the more alcohol harm increased.
“Alcohol harm includes interpersonal violence, GBV, drinking and then driving and getting into car accidents,” said Ms Fortein.
“So this is good news for us. We encourage communities to keep an eye on local newspapers and check for any new liquor licence applications in their communities. If residents feel they don't want more liquor outlets opening they can object, its their constitutional right,” she said.