LIQUOR DELIVERED TO TEENAGERS

For those of us who are too tired after a long day at work to stand in front of a hot stove and make a meal, or simply are craving that special burger from our favourite takeout but do not want to go and brave Friday night traffic, we have the convenience of getting our food delivered right to our doors with the push of a few buttons on the latest delivery apps. These same apps have gone one step further and are now making it possible to have a wide range of liquor delivered with our favourite meals.  However, this is where caution must be taken, especially by the alcohol retailers.

Many teenagers, wanting to experiment, have access to these convenient apps and their full range of services. Now the question is, “who is responsible to ensure that alcohol is not sold to minors?”

Liquor Act 59 of 2003

The Liquor Act specifically states that:

• Section 7(1): A registrant may carry out its registered activities only in or from registered premises and in accordance with the regulations or any applicable conditions of registration.
• Section 10(1): A person must not sell or supply liquor or methylated spirits to a minor.
• Section 10(3): A person must take reasonable measures to determine accurately whether or not a person is a minor, before selling or supplying liquor or methylated spirits to that person.
• Section 35(1)(a): Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with a provision of section 4(2), 5(1), 6, 8 or 10, is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding Rl 000 000, or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years.

From Section 7 it can be seen that a registrant (being a person registered in terms of the Act, including retailers) may only sell alcohol from its registered premises. It can be interpreted then, in our opinion, that the retailer sells the alcohol to the driver acting on behalf of the App, and that is the full extent of his liability.

This would mean then that the driver becomes responsible to ensure that he does not contravene Section 10 of the Act. He would need to take special care to determine the age of the person that he is delivering the alcohol to. This interpretation is supported by the wording of Section 10, which states that a “Person must not supply”, regardless of whether that person is a registrant in terms of the Act.

This interpretation has not yet been tested by the Courts, and therefore is subject to change.