Mass shootings put liquor licensing and community safety under scrutiny - TimesLIVE
The deaths of 28 people in separate mass shootings in Gauteng and the Western Cape over the weekend have renewed questions about the location, licensing and monitoring of liquor establishments in residential communities.
The Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance in South Africa (SAAPA SA) extended its condolences to the families and communities affected by the shootings in Wedela, Gauteng, and Lwandle outside Cape Town. Twenty-six people were injured in the two incidents.
SAAPA SA campaign director Nomcebo Dlamini said the shootings were acts of violent crime, but raised broader questions about how liquor establishments are regulated and monitored.
“These incidents are first and foremost serious acts of violent crime, and responsibility for the killings rest with the perpetrators. They should not be used to suggest that liquor licensing itself caused the shootings,” Dlamini said.
“They do, however, raise a wider public-policy question: how do we ensure that liquor establishments operating within residential communities are appropriately located, licensed, monitored and regulated so that surrounding communities are adequately protected?”
SAAPA SA said the issue was particularly important in poorer communities, where liquor outlets and entertainment establishments can operate close to homes and other community facilities.
The call comes weeks after the 2026 Women’s Parliament adopted a declaration calling for stronger action to protect women and children and greater accountability from government and public institutions.
The declaration called for stronger regulation to prevent alcohol-related harm, alongside measures to address gender-based violence and femicide and other social harms.
It also called for a moratorium on new liquor licences in communities experiencing high levels of alcohol-related harm while the scale, location and regulatory status of existing outlets are assessed.
SAAPA SA said any consideration of a moratorium should be part of a broader review of liquor outlets, including their density, location, licensing status, compliance with licence conditions, operating hours and previous incidents linked to premises.
It also raised concerns about the closeness of liquor establishments to homes, schools, places of worship and other community facilities.
The 2016 Draft Liquor Amendment Bill proposed prohibiting the manufacture, distribution or retail sale of liquor within 500 metres of schools, places of worship, recreational facilities, rehabilitation or treatment centres, public institutions and similar amenities.
The organisation said the proposal was particularly relevant to densely populated communities where homes, schools, places of worship, recreational facilities and liquor establishments can be located close to one another.
Dlamini said the latest shootings highlighted the need to examine both where liquor outlets are located and how they are monitored after licences are issued.
“Licensing must be accompanied by effective monitoring, enforcement of licence conditions, appropriate zoning and location requirements, as well as contain mechanisms to reconsider licences where establishments repeatedly fail to comply with the law or present documented risks to surrounding communities,” she said.
SAAPA SA called for national, provincial and local authorities to assess the broader environment in which liquor establishments operate after the deaths in Wedela and Lwandle.
The organisation said this should include assessing liquor outlet density and the location of licensed and unlicensed establishments, strengthening monitoring and enforcement, considering proximity protections proposed in the 2016 draft legislation, and improving co-operation between liquor authorities, municipalities, the SAPS and communities.
“South Africa should not wait for another tragedy before addressing regulatory weaknesses that have already been identified,” Dlamini said.
