Lockdown blues spawn illegal shebeens
Pini Bothoko | Wednesday April 29, 2020 18:33
Ramotswa Police Station commander, superintendent Keoagile Tau told MmegiOnline that the ban of alcohol has resulted in a majority of people in his policing area resorting to home brews to get around the prohibition and beat the blues.
Tau disclosed to be battling with a mushroom of shebeens in his policing area, especially in Ramotswa, Taung and Mogobane villages where some residents have been selling home brewed beer. He stated that they discovered the shebeens when investigating what was behind people's movement during the lockdown despite the regulations in place.
'We observed that people were moving up and down carrying bags. Worried by people's excessive movement we carried out stop and search only to discover that the bags would be carrying bottled traditional beer,' he said.
The police boss further said they charged a number of shebeen operators amongst the three villages and seized home brewed alcohol bottled and packed in two litre bottles.
He said it appears that the sudden ban of liquor sales inspired creativity on how to get tipsy while some created the opportunity for moneymaking.