B Marks spokesperson, Willy Maphosa, says the municipality is fully cooperating with authorities on the incident which occurred on 9 April. 

Maphosa says the duo were on duty and in uniform when they illegally purchased the alcohol. According to national police spokesperson, Vishnu Naidoo, the traffic officials; 48-year old Rullaine Williams and 50-year old Moses Nche; are along with the 45-year old bottle store operator, Nelson Duarte, facing a slew of charges which include, corruption and the contravention of varying parts of Section 11 in the National Disaster Management Act.

Naidoo says they handed themselves over to police on Thursday, 16 April -a week after the incident - and appeared before the Potchefstroom Magistrate’s Court on the same day.

They were later released out on R 1000 bail each and are expected to reappear before the Potchefstroom Magistrate’s Court on the 7th of May 2020. JB Marks implores residents to adhere to all the lockdown regulations.

Word of the incident comes as President Cyril Ramaphosa has rejected the calls to unban the sake of alcohol by the Gauteng Liquor Forum. The Forum which threatened legal action, should Ramaphosa not lift the ban on alcohol, reportedly represents 20 000 taverns and shebeen owners in Gauteng.

Ramaphosa’s seven page response explains that alcohol is being seen as a deterrent to government’s efforts to curb the outbreak of the Coronavirus, adding “the sale and consumption of alcohol also has proven links to an increase in violent crime, motor vehicle accidents, medical emergencies and results in full emergency rooms and hospitals.

In the face of a pandemic such as Covid-19, the experience of the rest of the world has shown us that hospitals need to be prepared to receive and treat vast numbers of covid-19 patients and to quarantine them from non-infected patients”.

OFM News