Shebeens ~ South Africa's Informal Drinking Dens

Interesting BBC slideshow on Shebeens, South Africa's informal drinking dens in residential areas. Turns out the authorities are cracking down on these for various trumped up reasons. View here the discussion with the proprietor of Makati's Paradise shebeen in Gugulethu township near the lovely city of Cape Town... The crackdown strikes me as yet another officious intrusion of a too-powerful State into the peaceful lives and liberties of everyday citizens. Surely the police have better things to do than bully a bunch of beer drinkers?