…reveals impatient thieves tunneled into one store during lockdown
South Africans formed long queues to buy alcohol this morning after the country ended a two-month drinking ban during coronavirus lockdown.
Unwilling to wait for lockdown to ease, one group of thieves in Johannesburg tunnelled through a 2ft-thick wall into an off licence and robbed £15,000 worth of booze.
Footage and images from outside other stores across South Africa show people lining up in their dozens this morning, before emerging from the shops with crates of beer, wine and spirits.
Authorities imposed restrictions on the sale of alcohol two months ago to curb the amount of hospital admissions from booze-related violence.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, alcohol was the cause of 40 per cent of hospital admissions in South Africa, with 34,000 trauma cases passing through emergency departments in any normal week.
The ban saw A&E admissions drop significantly and beds were kept open for coronavirus patients, officials said.
While A&E admissions did drop overall, some people died or ended up in hospital after ingesting home-brewed alcohol.
Customers queue to buy alcohol at Makro Silverlakes Liquor Store in Pretoria this morning +8
Customers queue to buy alcohol at Makro Silverlakes Liquor Store in Pretoria this morning
Customers queue to buy alcohol on day 66 of the national lockdown in Johannesburg, South Africa this morning +8
Customers queue to buy alcohol on day 66 of the national lockdown in Johannesburg, South Africa this morning
A customer buys alcohol alcohol on day 66 of South Africa’s national lockdown in Johannesburg, South Africa, today +8
A customer buys alcohol alcohol on day 66 of South Africa’s national lockdown in Johannesburg, South Africa, today
Customers queue to buy alcohol on day 66 of South Africa’s national lockdown in Johannesburg this morning +8
Customers queue to buy alcohol on day 66 of South Africa’s national lockdown in Johannesburg this morning
Since the lockdown, alcohol has been in huge demand with bottles of wine and spirits selling for up to four times normal value on the black market to desperate boozers.
On opening this morning, a shocked manager at the Shoprite found there was not a drop to sell.
A Shoprite source said:’The manageress could not believe her eyes when she went in to prepare for the re-opening as all the alcohol was gone from most of the shelves.
‘The store was still fully locked up and it was only when she walked round that she found this open tunnel by one of the fridge freezers and realised what had happened.
‘It seems the thieves had worked out where the electrical and storm water drains run below the shopping mall to the shop and how to get right underneath the liquor store.
‘They must have had pneumatic drills or used hammers and chisels but did not make any noise and had to break through several feet of concrete to tunnel up into the shop.
‘The CCTV cameras have been reviewed and it shows three men inside the store 10 days ago but there must have been many more out of sight waiting in the tunnel below.
Credit: MailOnline
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