The Free State Liquor Traders Association (FSLTA) condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the continuing use of liquor outlets as locations for the settling of disputes, revenge attacks, gang related violence, interpersonal conflicts and, increasingly, indiscriminate mass killings.
We are deeply disturbed that ordinary businesses taverns, shebeens, pubs and licensed liquor establishments are repeatedly becoming theatres of violence in which innocent patrons, employees, business owners and surrounding communities pay with their lives.
This is no longer simply a liquor industry problem.
It is a broader crisis of violence, criminality, firearms, social anger, vigilantism, weak enforcement and the breakdown of community confidence in lawful institutions.
Recent police and government statements demonstrate the seriousness of the problem. The national police leadership has acknowledged that violence concentrates particularly at night, over weekends and around liquor outlets, while emphasising the need for liquor licensing and municipal by-law enforcement alongside policing.
The Free State has not been spared. SAPS has reported shootings at tavern premises in the province, including the May 2026 Botshabelo incident in which one person was killed and two others wounded and elsewhere in the province
These incidents must not become normalised.
WE REJECT THE USE OF LIQUOR PREMISES AS TARGETS FOR REVENGE
The FSLTA rejects the growing tendency for individuals or groups carrying anger, grievances or criminal intentions to use liquor establishments as convenient soft targets.
A liquor outlet cannot become a place where someone decides to settle a personal score.
A tavern cannot become a battlefield because of a dispute elsewhere.
A business owner cannot be expected to determine the criminal intentions of every person entering the premises.
And innocent patrons must not be forced to pay the ultimate price for conflicts they did not create.
The recent pattern of mass shootings across South Africa makes this matter urgent. SAPS has documented multiple incidents involving indiscriminate shooting at taverns and other gathering places, including the Kanana tavern massacre in which five people were killed and five injured.
The FSLTA therefore calls for intelligence-led policing before violence occurs, rather than investigations that begin only after bodies are lying on the floor.
SOUTH AFRICA IS ENTERING A DANGEROUS PERIOD OF SOCIAL TENSION
We are particularly concerned about the current atmosphere surrounding immigration and undocumented migration.
There is clearly frustration in many communities about undocumented migration, pressure on employment and business opportunities, criminality, competition for scarce resources and the perceived failure of authorities to enforce immigration and other laws consistently.
These concerns cannot simply be dismissed as “xenophobia”.
People have legitimate questions about the functioning of the immigration system, border management, employment practices and law enforcement.
But legitimate concern does not create a licence for illegality.
Equally, opposition to undocumented migration must not become collective punishment of foreign nationals, vigilantism or violence.
The distinction is fundamental:
A person who is undocumented must be dealt with through the law.
A person who commits a crime must be investigated and prosecuted through the law.
A business that violates its licence must face the appropriate regulatory process.
But no community has the authority to punish people collectively because of their nationality.
Government itself has stated that immigration enforcement belongs to the state and that citizens should report suspected criminality rather than conduct their own identity checks or immigration enforcement.
The government has also warned that violence, intimidation, vigilantism, looting and targeting people on the basis of nationality are criminal acts.
We support that principle.
DO NOT TURN LIQUOR OUTLETS INTO THE NEXT FRONTLINE OF XENOPHOBIC OR REVENGE VIOLENCE
The FSLTA is deeply concerned about speculation that revenge attacks may follow particular incidents or that liquor establishments could become gathering points for people seeking to retaliate against particular individuals or communities.
We therefore appeal to all liquor traders, patrons, community leaders and residents:
– Do not act on rumours.
– Do not circulate unverified information.
– Do not identify people as targets.
– Do not organise revenge attacks.
– Do not use liquor establishments to mobilise violence.
A rumour can travel faster than the police.
A social media message can turn an argument into a mob.
A firearm in the hands of one angry person can turn an ordinary evening into a mass funeral.
We cannot allow this country to descend into a cycle where one act of violence produces another, and another, until entire communities become trapped in permanent retaliation.
BUT LET US ALSO BE HONEST ABOUT THE LIQUOR INDUSTRY
The liquor industry must not run away from its own responsibilities.
Licensed traders must comply with their licence conditions, operating hours, security requirements and applicable municipal by-laws.
Illegal liquor outlets must not be protected by the industry.
Traders must not sell to obviously intoxicated persons where prohibited by law, permit firearms or dangerous weapons to become part of the premises, tolerate criminal activity, or turn a blind eye to violence.
We support targeted enforcement against non compliant and illegal establishments.
But enforcement must be fair, intelligence-led and evidence-based.
The existence of illegal liquor outlets does not justify treating every liquor trader as a criminal.
The existence of violence at some liquor premises does not mean every tavern is responsible for the violence occurring there.
WE CALL FOR A NEW LIQUOR-SAFETY COMPACT
The FSLTA proposes an urgent Free State Liquor Safety Compact involving:
1. SAPS and Crime Intelligence
2. Free State Gambling, Liquor and Tourism Authority
3. Municipalities and municipal law enforcement units
4. Department of Home Affairs
5. Liquor traders and their associations
6. Community policing structures
7. Traditional and community leaders
8. Emergency medical services
9. Neighbourhood and business forums
This must not be another ceremonial stakeholder meeting.
It must produce practical measures, including:
– hotspot identification;
– intelligence sharing;
– rapid reporting mechanisms;
– coordinated inspections;
– firearm and dangerous-weapon prevention;
– improved lighting and CCTV where appropriate;
– emergency-response protocols;
– responsible-trading programmes;
– action against illegal establishments;
– protection of compliant traders;
– community mediation mechanisms;
– and early-warning systems where there is credible information about planned violence.
WE ALSO CALL FOR ACCOUNTABILITY ACROSS THE ENTIRE SYSTEM
If a liquor outlet is operating illegally, authorities must act.
If a licensed establishment repeatedly violates its licence, authorities must act.
If criminals use a tavern as a base for violence, the criminals must be investigated and prosecuted.
If firearms are being carried into liquor premises, there must be enforcement.
If officials knowingly allow illegal establishments to operate, that must also be investigated.
And if intelligence exists that a mass attack is being planned, the responsibility of the state is to intervene before, not merely after, people are killed.
This requires moving away from a purely reactive policing model.
OUR POSITION ON MIGRATION IS EQUALLY CLEAR
The FSLTA recognises that South Africa has a legitimate immigration management challenge.
We support lawful immigration enforcement.
We support the identification and prosecution of employers and businesses that deliberately circumvent immigration and labour laws.
We support action against criminal networks exploiting undocumented people.
But we reject the idea that nationality itself constitutes criminality.
South Africans must not be collectively blamed for the actions of criminals, and foreign nationals must not be collectively blamed for crimes committed by individuals.
The same principle must apply to the liquor industry.
A liquor trader is not a criminal because another trader committed a crime.
OUR MESSAGE TO THE COMMUNITY
To our communities we say:
If you are angry, organise.
If you are dissatisfied with government, protest lawfully.
If you suspect an undocumented person, report the matter to the appropriate authorities.
If you know a criminal, provide information to the police.
If you have a dispute, use lawful mechanisms.
If you are concerned about a liquor establishment, report it to the relevant authority or liquor regulator.
But do not take the law into your own hands.
There is no justice in killing an innocent person because you are angry about someone else.
There is no justice in burning a business because of a rumour.
There is no justice in attacking a foreign national because another foreign national committed a crime.
There is no justice in shooting innocent patrons because of a personal grievance.
And there is no justice in turning liquor establishments into execution grounds.
THE LIQUOR INDUSTRY WANTS TO BE PART OF THE SOLUTION
The FSLTA is prepared to work with government, SAPS, municipalities, communities and other stakeholders to restore safety around liquor establishments.
We will continue advocating for responsible trading, lawful businesses and safer entertainment environments.
But we also expect government to recognise liquor traders as business stakeholders and partners in community safety, rather than engaging the industry only when tragedy occurs.
The time has come for a comprehensive approach that deals simultaneously with crime, firearms, illegal liquor trading, immigration enforcement, community tensions, substance abuse, unemployment, social violence and failures of local enforcement.
These problems are interconnected and cannot be solved by blaming one sector.
OUR FINAL APPEAL
The FSLTA sends its deepest condolences to every family that has lost a loved one in these senseless acts of violence.
To those planning revenge, we say:
– Do not make innocent people pay for your anger.
To those spreading inflammatory rumours, we say:
– Do not turn social media into a weapon.
To criminals carrying firearms into liquor establishments, we say:
– Liquor businesses are places of livelihood and social interaction not killing fields.
To government and law-enforcement agencies, we say:
– Act decisively, act lawfully and act before another massacre occurs.
And to liquor traders:
– Let us raise the standard of our industry, protect our patrons, comply with the law and refuse to provide space for criminality.
The Free State Liquor Traders Association believes that entertainment should not become a death sentence, a tavern should not become a battlefield, and community anger should never become a licence to kill.
WE CHOOSE RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS.
WE CHOOSE COMMUNITY SAFETY.
WE CHOOSE THE RULE OF LAW.
WE CHOOSE LIFE.
