Police have on Saturday 3 April 2021 arrested the owner of an unlicensed liquor outlet in Muldersdrift in the West Rand, and confiscated liquor whose value is yet to be determined. He will be charged with contravening the Gauteng Liquor Board legislation for trading in liquor without a licence.
The suspect will also be charged with contravention of the Disaster Management Act, COVID-19 level 1 lockdown regulations that prohibit the sale of alcohol after 23:00.
This arrest follows the disturbing incident in the early hours of 3 April 2021, around 02:30 at the said illegal outlet, where two police officers from Muldersdrift SAPS were attacked and a state vehicle torched allegedly by patrons that had been drinking at the outlet.
It is reported that the members from Muldersdrift SAPS were attending to a complaint of disturbance of public peace at Video informal settlement, Rietfontein when the two members were attacked by an aggressive group of people. The members sought cover in a nearby shack as the group continued to pelt them with objects, allegedly threatening to kill the police members.
The two members, with one of them injured, managed to escape out of the shack and realised that the group had allegedly torched the state vehicle. Public Order Police arrived and managed to quell the situation.
The injured member was rushed to a nearby hospital in Krugersdorp where he was treated and discharged. No member of the public was injured.
A separate docket has been opened for investigation in relation to the attack on police members and malicious damage to property (torching of state vehicle).
The Acting Provincial Commissioner, Major General Tommy Mthombeni has condemned the incident that is indicative of the extent to which some members of the public will go to undermine the authority of the State.
“Our members who came under attack by this lawless group of people who are said to have been very aggressive, should actually be commended for sacrificing their safety and ensuring no member of the public got injured. They had the option to use their service firearms but instead used their discretion not to use those firearms, averting a possible bloodbath. Our Employee Health and Wellness teams must continue to give priority attention to these members to ensure their emotional and psychological recovery,” the Acting Provincial Commissioner remarked.
