Mthetho Ndoni
Mthetho Ndoni
The Port Elizabeth police have raided and closed down local shebeens that sell the cheap but highly intoxicating killer brew umtshovalale [push me to sleep].
Captain Verna Brink said six people had died in Port Elizabeth since 2003 after drinking umtshovalale.
She warned that the police would continue raiding and closing outlets selling the drink and would destroy any stocks that they found.
"We have destroyed more than 900litres of the illegally brewed liquor. In one shebeen we found 610litres of the concoction," Brink said.
When Sowetan visited a shebeen in Red Location, New Brighton, the team found Noni Mthana, 41, and Dannyboy Mini, 40, drinking umtshovalale.
They said it cost them only R2 a litre.
"We do not work, and we spend the day drinking,"Mini said.
Brink warned that the police would continue to fight any form of crime during the 16 Days of Activism campaign.
"Women who drink umtshovalale are easy prey for rapists."
Some of the ingredients used in brewing umtshovalale are rotten bread, old yeast, pineapples, brake fluid, battery acid, Brasso [metal polish] and methylated spirits.
Cops seize deadly beer
Mthetho Ndoni
Mthetho Ndoni
The Port Elizabeth police have raided and closed down local shebeens that sell the cheap but highly intoxicating killer brew umtshovalale [push me to sleep].
Captain Verna Brink said six people had died in Port Elizabeth since 2003 after drinking umtshovalale.
She warned that the police would continue raiding and closing outlets selling the drink and would destroy any stocks that they found.
"We have destroyed more than 900litres of the illegally brewed liquor. In one shebeen we found 610litres of the concoction," Brink said.
When Sowetan visited a shebeen in Red Location, New Brighton, the team found Noni Mthana, 41, and Dannyboy Mini, 40, drinking umtshovalale.
They said it cost them only R2 a litre.
"We do not work, and we spend the day drinking,"Mini said.
Brink warned that the police would continue to fight any form of crime during the 16 Days of Activism campaign.
"Women who drink umtshovalale are easy prey for rapists."
Some of the ingredients used in brewing umtshovalale are rotten bread, old yeast, pineapples, brake fluid, battery acid, Brasso [metal polish] and methylated spirits.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos