No alcohol sale after 10pm

Sabelo Matsebula Chairman of the Liquor Licensing Board.

MBABANE – The Swaziland National Liquor Licensing Board has warned all public bars, casinos and six-to-six nightclubs in the country to stop selling alcohol at 10pm.

However, the six-to-six nightclubs can allow its customers to dance all nightlong and gambling can continue, without alcohol as from 10pm.
If they want to extend hours for drinking, they can only apply for a special licence which will lapse at midnight.

After midnight, the Board insists that no outlets should be found serving liquor after the stipulated time. 
The warning to strictly adhere to legal procedure also applies to popular festivals such as the Simunye Fun Fair, Swaziland International Trade Fair and MTN Bushfire where crossover revelling accompanied by alcohol binges has been a norm.

Hotels, guest houses and other accommodation outlets are also warned to close public bars at 10pm or apply for the two-hour extension of business hours which lapse at midnight.
It can be said that the warning has been necessitated by the fact that the public does not know the hours of business as stipulated in the Liquor Licensing Act of 1964.
Sabelo Matsebula, Chairman of the Board, said the country did not want to be a nation of drunkards.  He said the law stipulated that anyone who contravened the law shall be guilty of an offence and the courts would determine his or her penalty.

“Even if it’s a disco it must stop selling alcohol at 10pm or else come to us for extension of business hours and we will allow them to sell the liquor till midnight,” said Matsebula.
He said there were tough controls over sale of alcohol because it was considered a drug and it was not easy for one to acquire a licence to sell alcohol because of this.

Matsebula said a person applying for a licence is made to sit for an oral examination to determine if he was well versed with the Liquor Licensing Act and the nature of the liquor business.
“Many people don’t know that it’s the law that prohibits the owner of the bar to stop selling alcohol at 10pm. We don’t say people must stop dancing all nightlong, all we are saying is that alcohol must not be served after 10pm,” warned Matsebula.

He said bottle stores should close at 7pm or 8pm by virtue of a special licence.
“Business at bottle stores and bars must start at 9am and no one must serve alcohol before this time,” said Matsebula and that no one should enter a bar or bottle store storeroom other than the person licensed to sell liquor, police or Liquor Licensing Board member.

Asked if the current law was still relevant in the 21st century, the chairman responded “There’s nothing the Board can do if government authorities still believed in the current controls. We have to ask this question as well: Do we want to be a nation of drunkards?”
He said there was an attempt by government to allow certain outlets to sell liquor for 24 hours a day but the Liquor Licensing Bill was not passed by Parliament and the minister who tabled the Bill had to withdraw it.

In 2010, Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini announced that plans to control alcohol intake by Swazi citizens were underway. He told church leaders that cabinet was working on a legislation to make it difficult for drinkers to access alcohol, particularly youngsters. He said government wanted to stop the high level of drinking in Swaziland.

We have to be mindful of the communities - Jiggs

MBABANE – Jiggs Thorne says it is vital to devise different strategies for different environments in the issue of alcohol.

Thorne, the proprietor of House on Fire, a popular entertainment venue that hosts the MTN Bushfire said his outlet closed its bars at midnight but ‘there was a little bit of a grey area in the law regulating the sale of alcohol.’

“While we can punch holes in the law, we have to be mindful of the communities in which we operate our businesses. That is why we work closely with police at House on Fire,” he said.
He called for a pragmatic approach to the situation. He said festivals like Bushfire contributed immensely to tourism growth.

“Tourism is a contributing factor to a stable economy, hence we have to balance the scales when we address this issue,” he said.
Thorne said all parties were needed to reach a consensus and take the country forward in terms of economic growth.
“I insist that we have to be mindful of the communities in which we operate in. We mustn’t just sell alcohol to their detriment,” he said.

Tinkers - Tyron Reid, who was in charge of Tinkers, said he would not comment on this matter because there had been some developments, which he did not disclose, that hurt him personally. “I would prefer not to comment on the issue you are tackling. There has been a lot that had happened which hurt me,” he said.

Happy Valley - Happy Valley Resort and Casino management said it was yet to scrutinise the law before they could comment.

Sibane Hotel - Mbali Dube, the Marketing Manager at Sibane Hotel, said it was difficult for her to comment on the matter until she first discussed it with management but disclosed that the hotel’s bar closed at 10 pm.

Pigg’s Peak Hotel and Casino – Zachariah Dlamini, the General Manager, said Swaziland should apply modern laws to address issues related to the performance of the economy. He said such laws encouraged businesses, including bars, to operate 24 hours a day. Dlamini, also the Chairman of the Swaziland Tourism Board, said there was no need to close shops, bars or any business set up to boost the economy.

“We have to work on shifts to ensure that the economy grows; people don’t sleep in a first world country and we don’t close shops or factories just because we are tired or we want to go home to rest,” he said.
He said bars were places where people get together to socialise. He said a hotel was a busy place that should operate 24 hours a day, including its bar.

“We don’t encourage people to drink but it’s vital that we amend our laws if we want to attain the first world status,” he said. He said nightlife attracted tourists.
“In Swaziland there’s just no nightlife and tourists now prefer travelling to Mozambique to entertain themselves;” said Dlamini.

Royal Swazi Spa Hotel – There was no official comment obtained from management  for the past three days but one employee at the public and casino bars said the law should be reviewed because it was not business-friendly.

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