Mbabane: The police have vowed to stamp down on alcohol traders, especially the informal traders who have stocked alcohol for resale at their homes.
Chief Police Information and Communications Officer (PICO), Phindile Vilakati, said they are aware that some traders have piled crates of beer in their homes and conduct business despite government’s ban on the sale of alcohol. Vilakati said as a law enforcement agency they are mandated to apprehend and arrest lawbreakers, particularly those who violate government’s Covid-19 regulations.
She said as always they rely on the public for information on those who break the law particularly those who will sell alcohol despite its ban. She sent a stern warning on those she termed rebels, saying in the end the long arm of the law would catch up with them.
Police IDs
Earlier on, National Commissioner of Police (NATCOM), William Tsintsibala Dlamini, cautioned police officers on raiding homes without police identification. The police chief said producing identification was police protocol when raiding a homestead and seeking to search it, adding that it was dangerous to force one-self on people in the name of being an officer. Producing identification would also prevent police impersonators from taking advantage and carrying out their unlawful activities.
Alcohol remains banned
Despite the Eswatini National Liquor Association (SNLA) threatening to challenge government’s decision to ban the sale and distribution of alcohol in court it, still stands.
The ban was with effect from July 1. The Eswatini National Liquor Association (SNLA) through their legal representative (Rodrigues and Associates) in a letter directed to the minister of commerce industry and trade, the Prime Minister and the Ministerial Disaster Management team expressed their dissatisfaction at the ruling.
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