“THOSE BOOZERS will survive Covid, but they won’t survive the stuff they drink,” warns a resident.
But the drinkers don’t care. They say they can’t drink imbamba alone.
WE NEED TO MAKE IT STRONG SO WE CAN GET DRUNK QUICKLY!” SAID A DRINKER.
These boozers from Lower Crossroads in Philippi East, Cape Town, are mixing a concoction that packs the kick of a donkey.
Said a drinker: “We’re mixing it with sanitiser because we take time to get drunk. We can’t drink imbamba alone.
“Those who make the imbamba don’t add the sanitiser. We add it after buying it because we want to get drunk.
“We pay R30 for two litres. Before lockdown, they sold it for about R15. With level 3 they increased their prices.
“We can’t afford to pay so much. We make it cheaper by adding sanitiser, which doesn’t cost so much and adds a lot of power.”
Lonwabo Nkuhlu, a 45-year-old resident, said places that sell imbamba and traditional beer make a lot of money.
“The alcohol ban is working for them. They don’t want it to be lifted because they’re making a lot of money,” said Nkuhlu.
“In some places they mix imbamba with sanitiser before selling it to people.”
He said the alcohol sale ban should be lifted because people drink anyway.
“This ban is only killing those in the liquor business and opens doors for shebeens to continue making money illegally,” said Nkuhlu.
Another resident said even during the first lockdown, they drank alcohol mixed with sanitiser.
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“One of my friends gave birth after drinking sanitiser,” said the resident.
“This thing of mixing alcohol needs to stop because it could kill someone, and if our government continues banning the sale of alcohol people will die, not because of Covid-19 but because of drinking sanitiser.”
Making imbamba takes pineapple, yeast, brown bread and oats.
The Western Cape health department told Daily Sun: “Dangers related to adults drinking significant volumes of alcohol-based hand sanitisers depend on the type of alcohol used in the hand sanitiser, as well as any other ingredients added to a particular product.
“Essentially, the dangers are the same as for ethanol poisoning/intoxication or isopropyl alcohol poisoning.
“Other effects may also occur depending on the constituents of a specific hand sanitiser, such as those containing chlorhexidine.
“We urge residents not to drink hand sanitiser, as it can be dangerous and cause poisoning and in some cases can be fatal.”