Durban – Security experts have urged the country’s law enforcement authorities to be vigilant after the government’s decision to allow the sale of alcohol from June 1 as the nation enters level 3 of lockdown.
Senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, Johan Burger, said the SAPS, metro police and the SANDF should be deployed in communities to ensure people followed the
regulations.
Burger said law enforcement agencies should ensure people did not consume alcohol in public. He said crime could increase when people had access to alcohol.
“Much is going to change as the nation enters level 3 of lockdown. Concerning crimes that can be linked to alcohol abuse, they aren’t going to change that much as people would be consuming it from home.”
Burger said crimes such as murder, attempted murder and assault happened mostly at places where alcohol was socially consumed.
He said there should be heightened patrols in places such as clubs, shebeens and taverns, especially those that did not adhere to the prescribed closing time, as that was where most crimes happened.
Burger said drinking at outlets was the source of more than 40% of the country’s murder rate.
“It’s also important that the law enforcement authorities keep an open eye to ensure that people don’t abuse the sale of alcohol, as that would lead to an increase in crime.
“It’s important that law enforcement authorities ensure that this partial lifting doesn’t increase the crime rate in the country,” he said.
KZN violence monitor Mary de Haas said that law enforcement needed to increase its visibility in communities.
“Road fatalities are also attributed to drunk driving, and the police must make sure that people don’t consume and go on the roads. Also, once people are drunk, we can see an increase of gender-based violence, assaults and other crimes.
“Proper policing will made sure crime doesn’t shoot up during lockdown level 3,” said De Haas.
Last week, Police Minister Bheki Cele said although crime in the country continued to remain low during lockdown, reported cases had started to increase after the country entered level 4.
Cele said that at the end of level 5, 107 000 cases were opened at police stations and 118 000 people were charged for contravention of the regulations.
However, since the beginning of May, the previous cases had more than doubled to nearly 230 000 people charged for contravention of the regulations.