The Gauteng Education Department has started the process of shutting down taverns and shebeens situated next to schools.
The Department received a petition on behalf of residents of Cresslawn, in Ekurhuleni – east of Johannesburg, alleging that there is a shebeen operating next to a primary school in the area.
According to the Gauteng Liquor Act, shebeens or bottle stores should not be situated within a 500-metre radius of a place of worship or an educational institution.
Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi says, “We are moving to more shebeens because the process to shut one, is too long. That is why we are concentrating on all those that are found near our schools. Those that are close to our schools, which were there already, we will persuade them to relocate to other areas. But those that came when we had already built the schools, we have no choice but to shut them down.”
