Police Intervention Strategies in the Enforcement of Liquor Policies in South Africa

Abstract

In South Africa (SA), the criminal justice system is responsible for crime control and the administration of justice. The criminal justice system is composed of the police, courts, and correctional services. The South Africa Police Service (SAPS) is the entry point to the criminal justice system because crimes are reported to them for investigation and law enforcement. This article assesses the effectiveness of the SAPS strategies to enforce liquor policies. The assumption of this article is that most liquor traders do not abide by the rules; they aim to generate profit and they don‟t care about the wellbeing of the community. The state‟s failure to intervene at both policy and law-enforcement level makes things worse. From a qualitative research standpoint, purposive sampling was used to select police and non-police liquor inspectors from three provinces, namely the Free State, Gauteng, and Limpopo, to conduct a survey. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 participants. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. South Africa consists of nine provinces and each province applies its own liquor policy. That makes it very difficult for the police to implement National Liquor Act policy. In conclusion, South Africa needs one liquor policy to enhance compliance to curb selling of alcohol abuse.