8th October 2011

Frightening to think there are 13 year olds lying drunk in alleys, my daughter turns 13 on Monday.

Cops to curb teen drinking

Drunk under-18s should be detained until their parents come and collect them.

That’s what Durban North Councillor Heinz de Boer would like to see after a police raid on pubs and clubs in Durban North and Umhlanga last weekend.

De Boer, who joined the raid, said he was disgusted to see a 13-year-old girl passed out in a pool of vomit in an alley and was determined to crack down on under-age drinking, as the annual matric “rage” and festive season approaches.

“We saw a lot of under-age kids hanging around, with many under-age girls walking the street and dressed in a very provocative manner,” said De Boer.

He said it appeared to be common practice for teens to be given R500 by their parents to go out for the night, where alcopops and shooters were popular choices of drink.

And having alerted the public last week to a shocking trend of young men in Durban being raped after a night out, Rape Wise Chief Executive Officer John Buswell said the “16 Shooters” game – when a teen turning 16 has to consume 16 shots of alcohol – was common practice