By: Nosipho-Komisa & Zethu Gweva
Scores of thirsty people around East London and King Williams Town have welcomed the long awaited decision by the government to allow people to purchase and consume alcohol at home.
From the early hours of today, long queues of people were seen outside various bottle stores in the Buffalo City Metro area patiently waiting for liquor stores to open their doors.
Some of them have told BCM News that they started queuing from as early as 5am this morning.
Last week President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that at level 3 of the lockdown people will be allowed to buy and consume alcohol at home.
In the past two months it was reported that people in some parts of the province were allegedly consuming illegal home brewed alcohol to quench their thirst, this has resulted in some of them being left injured and others dead due to drinking the dangerous brew.
Buffalo City and Amathole have the highest number of deaths due to illegal home brewed alcohol in the province.
An excited Buffalo City resident who wanted to speak on condition of anonymity, said he has been waiting for this moment for too long. He thanked the government for easing the ban on alcohol.
“I have bought myself three bottles of whisky and that will last me for the whole of this,” he said.
He urged people to continue complying with the COVID-19 regulations.
Another resident, Ondela Mpula from Duncan Village said, “I don’t have enough money to buy all the drinks I want but the little that I have will quench my thirst for the day and I am glad that I will finally buy alcohol at a normal price.”