Liquor laws are different wherever you go. In South Africa, liquor (that’s wine, beer and spirits) can’t be sold in an off-license on Sundays or public holidays.
Except for a couple of exceptions.
In Cape Town, Harley’s is one of a few places where they can sell wine and stuff for several hours on these forbidden days.
This year New Year’s Day was on a Monday. That means that most of Cape Town had to buy what they needed to celebrate before or during Saturday. If you forgot or didn’t buy enough you had to drive all the way to Harley’s.
I went past Harley’s a couple of times on January 1 and each time there were crowds of people staring at the closed doors.
Inside, the place was seriously busy. When some customers were let out, some more were allowed in.
The management told me that it was important that all the customers who left with bottles had paid for them first.