Love him or hate him, but you can’t ignore police minister Bheki Cele. Yes, I know, you are probably shaking your head that someone should be so inconsiderate as to even mention that name.
For as long as I have known him, since the early 1990s when he was a political activist in KwaZulu-Natal, Cele’s major fault has been his honesty and frankness. He lacks diplomacy. That is why it is easy to perceive him as a buffoon. One sometimes gets a sense that Cele does not think before he speaks. Every time he is on television I find myself holding my breath or cringing. I imagine members of the liquor lobby — rich, powerful and influential — do the same.
But we cringe for different reasons. Members of the liquor lobby hold their collective breath as they calculate the millions of rands they lose every time Cele places the fear of God in those who are selling alcohol illegally during the booze ban.
My cringing, on the other hand, is sometimes sympathetic. I see a man whose heart is in the right place, a leader trying to do the right thing.
South Africans have short memories. There was a time not long ago when Cele was lauded for his no-nonsense approach to crime prevention. People said we needed a tough minister to put the fear of God into criminals.
But now that his message is inconveniencing many of us, we choose to disregard the good intentions behind Cele’s antics. As a drinker I feel the pain of being denied a tipple every time I go to a restaurant. I have to keep reminding myself to stop being selfish and look at the bigger picture.
That there is a link between alcohol and irresponsible behaviour is not even debatable. When South Africans drink they go overboard. Sadly, they don’t confine themselves to their homes when they drink. They hit the road, they occupy public spaces.
At a time when the country faces an unprecedented crisis in the form of Covid-19, antisocial behaviour creates conditions conducive to the spread of the virus. Sadly, it is true that the alcohol ban has resulted in the loss of jobs not only in the liquor industry but in the hospitality sector at large.
But think of the lives that we have lost and keep losing. We only have ourselves to blame for the alcohol ban being reimposed — we can’t behave responsibly. With the lifting of the ban late last year, people forgot that we were still in the clutches of the scourge. It is no coincidence that we are battling a second wave of infections.
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With these thoughts in mind, I decided not to go to a restaurant but to order in. Not that I have stopped eating out, but I wanted to remind readers of home delivery options under the current restrictions. Many restaurants have comprehensive online menus and subscribe to delivery services such as Uber Eats.
I chose Saigon, a Vietnamese restaurant. Because it was a bit chilly, I ordered seafood soup (R49) for starters and caramelised stir-fried pork and egg (R112) as the main course. My wife, who stopped eating pork after it made her sick, couldn’t stop wanting mine. She wouldn’t believe me when I said it was pretty pedestrian. She generously let me taste her roast duck with orange sauce (R215). Not bad at all. But I always prefer my duck spicy. Or angry, as they say in Vietnam. All-in-all, it was an above-average meal.
Saigon ***
333 Rivonia Boulevard, Rivonia, Johannesburg
Tel: 011-807-5272
Sandile Cele *****
Raymond Zondo ****
Zweli Mkhize ***
Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams **
David Mahlobo *
LISTEN | Police minister Bheki Cele reveals how he feels about alcohol & more
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