Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Alan Winde, has embarked on a Province-wide blitz to ensure that night clubs and liquor outlets are sticking to the rules.
Last Friday (28th August 2009), MEC Winde came to the rescue of dozens of homeowners in Oudtshoorn when he dropped in at Lev Cupid Sports Bar after midnight and confronted the management for operating outside of their licence hours. Minister Winde enraged the manager when he insisted that his sound system be turned off immediately. Police were on stand-by to provide assistance should it have been required.
Residents of the area, many of whom are teachers and school children, complained that they were suffering from ill-sleep because of the club’s habit of playing loud music into the early hours of the morning. One concerned mother informed the Minister that she had sent her daughter to her grandmother’s house during exam times because sleep-deprivation was affecting her ability to study.
While Minister Winde and the Provincial Government support operators who stick to the rules, irresponsible traders will no longer be tolerated. He emphasized that his focus will be on shutting down clubs in residential areas that he found to be in contravention of the law. Over the coming months, MEC Winde will be performing random late night raids on clubs that appear suspicious. Infringements include selling alcohol, and playing unacceptably loud music after midnight without licence to do so.
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