Drinkers turn to home-brewed beer to beat alcohol ban
Mpumi Kiva
With the sale of alcohol banned for over seven weeks, the illegal booze trade has mushroomed and prices rocketed.
People who used to frequent shebeens in the southern Cape, say syndicates have stepped in and are charging exorbitant prices for conventional brands of alcohol. In response, people have started to brew their own liquor at home. Pineapples and apples are used mostly.
On the south coast, many people are now making a living from it, brewing up 25-litre buckets of iqhilika in places such as Nekkies in Knysna, Nonqaba in Mossel Bay, Nokuthula in Plettenberg Bay, and Lawaaikamp and Thembalethu near George.
The home-brewed alcohol sells for about R10 a litre or R20 for a 2.5-litre bottle. In contrast, Zola Xhinwa, of Nokuthula, said a bottle of Smirnoff vodka was now going for R450 and beer prices have doubled, even trebled.
“I have resorted to drinking homemade booze because it’s much cheaper and affordable,” he said.
Pineapple alcohol is made with sliced pineapple, lukewarm water, brown bread, oats, ginger, yeast and sugar. Apple beer is a concoction of teabags, sugar, yeast and brown bread. The ingredients are left to ferment overnight.
A popular drinking spot in Nonqaba, that dates back to the ’50s, has become known for its cleanliness and the pleasant taste of its pineapple brew.
“Lockdown has actually taken us back to dark days [of apartheid], where people made alcohol from home and sold it to community members,” said the owner.
“This township is dead without booze. People are bored of sitting at home doing nothing. People don’t sit here, they just buy and go drink in their homes.”
Republished from GroundUp