Booze ban gives peace a chance, say battered women
Homes prone to domestic violence breathe sigh of relief
The sudden ban on alcohol sales has left a sour taste in many mouths, but it was sweet news for women who blame their partners’ drinking for violence and neglect.
Zodwa Mthimkhulu*, of Khayelitsha, Cape Town, who has just given birth to her second child, said she hoped it meant her husband would pay more attention to their family.
“I’ve always been the one who takes care of our son, as he is never home on weekends. If he leaves home on a Friday sometimes we see him again on Monday as he goes out drinking with his friends,” she said.
Mthimkhulu said her husband’s behaviour changed during level 5 lockdown, when the first alcohol ban was imposed.
“He still drank, as shebeens still sold alcohol illegally, but that was not even close to his normal drinking sprees. During the initial ban he was more at home and provided for our family. Generally he is the sweetest guy when he is not drinking.”
Noluvo Magwaza*, of Duncan Village in East London, said she was celebrating the alcohol sales ban, “and I’m sure many women in my position are also celebrating”.
She added: “My home will be quieter. I won’t go to bed worrying that when my husband comes home drunk he will start quarrelling and beat me up. He is very reasonable when he is not drinking.”
Magwaza said she spent last weekend at her sister’s home after her husband threatened her for refusing him sex.
“He was very abusive and kept on telling me that if I can’t give him what he wants he will go elsewhere and get it. The crazy things he says or does when he is intoxicated are things that he will never do when he is sober.”
Cindy Jacobs*, of Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, said she was often at home alone with her five-year-old daughter when her husband of 11 years went out drinking. “I would have these racing anxious thoughts … what if someone walks in and harms us while he is out gallivanting?”
Recently, her husband was almost mugged when he arrived home at about 2am. “When I looked outside I saw these two men entering our gate and I screamed immediately. They probably got scared as they turned away. My husband was too drunk to even notice them,” she said.
Seehaam Samaai, director of the Women’s Legal Centre, said even though the alcohol ban was motivated by the need to reduce pressure at emergency units and trauma centres, “we believe that it’s been a good response in fighting genderbased violence”.
She added: “It’s a known fact that alcohol places a huge risk on health and safety, in particular during times of isolation, lockdown and quarantine. And during this period when there is massive stresses on time, access to resources, access to money, those stresses are placed on women at the end of the day.”
While the ban would not end gender-based violence, it would lessen the burden on women.
“The key burdens, disproportionately in SA, are on women, particularly black women in both urban and rural areas. Alcohol is used to cope with stress and ... it increases the symptoms of anxiety, depression, mental disorders, and this increases the risk of inter-partner violence and domestic violence.”
Ella Mangisam, COO of Ilitha Labantu, a Cape Town NGO that provides emotional and practical support to women and children affected by gender-based violence, said that given SA’s culture of irresponsible drinking, the ban will have a positive impact.
“For many, alcohol is used as a coping mechanism. In many homes, instead of talking about problems people simply drink their problems away, and unfortunately it’s often men who do that.
“We think that by taking the alcohol factor away, many families will become more functional. Many women tell us that when their husbands are sober they reason better. But I believe that we still need to do a lot more to teach men how to communicate their problems instead of turning to alcohol to escape.”
* Names have been changed