Illegal sales of alcohol and asset forfeiture
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Date
Authors
Ngidi, Karabo
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Institute for Security Studies
Abstract
The Constitutional Court recently confirmed an order for the forfeiture of a house from which an
unlawful shebeen had been run for years (Van der Burg and Another v National Director of Public
Prosecutions).1 In deciding whether to confirm the order of the full bench of the High Court, Justice van
der Westhuizen, writing for a unanimous court, addressed the following questions: whether the house was
an instrumentality of an offence; whether the illegal sale of alcohol is an organised crime; the
proportionality of the crime to the forfeiture under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act 121 of 1998
(the POCA); as well as the impact of the forfeiture on the rights of the children that lived in the house.
This judgment comes at a time where issues such as the proposal for the reduction of the legal limit of
alcohol for drivers to 0%2 are topical, and seems to point to a tougher stance towards the sale and
consumption of alcohol in South Africa. The judgment may therefore be seen as a warning that the illegal
sale of alcohol and running of a shebeen will no longer be seen as business as usual in cases where the
seller does not heed the call to desist such business.
Description
Keywords
Illegal sales, Alcohol, Asset forfeiture, Constitutional court, South Africa
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Ngidi, K 2013, 'Illegal sales of alcohol and asset forfeiture', South African Crime Quarterly, no. 45, pp. 33-40.