Ezekiel Mphahlele - later to go by the name of Es'kia Mphahlele - was 13 years of age when he and his younger siblings moved from his ancestral village outside then Pietersburg to a slum called Marabastad, in Pretoria.
What immediately struck him about his new environment was the wretchedness, the poverty. It was this poverty that inspired his grandmother to start brewing traditional beer which she sold illegally to raise funds to put food on the table, and send the kids to school.
The old lady was arrested numerous times for the illegal brew. Having no alternative means to raise money to feed the kids, she persisted right up to the time Mphahlele went to Adams College to train as a teacher.
Later - now on his steam - he acquired a string of degrees, finally becoming the internationally renowned author whose works we still go back to for comfort, and insight into those dark days.
I'm telling this story to create a context for what I am reading into the scuffle taking place between government and the liquor industry.
Alcohol sold at shebeens and taverns accounts for 35% of total sales in SA. Many of these small establishments are the only source of income for the families that run them.
With the money from sales, family heads feed their children, clothe them, and send them to schools, and sometimes even universities.
You can imagine the desperation the immediate ban on alcohol sales has visited upon these families.
Kids will be taken out of school; banks will repossess cars and other assets which these families are paying off. It's going to be chaos.
Those opposed to the ban have argued that it is robbing the government of tax revenue it would have enjoyed from the sales. This is a valid point, but that's not the line I want to pursue here.
I want us to look at those most likely to be affected by the ban - the struggling black family struggling to make ends meet, turning to selling alcohol as a last resort.
I would even suggest that many of these outlets are more responsible than the taxi industry. Yes, operators still supply commuters with sanitisers sponsored by government; and, yes, the rank marshals also enforce the wearing of masks by passengers at all times.
But worryingly, taxis are back to running at full capacity. Government has cravenly withdrawn from the fight.
Now it is coming down hard on the liquor retail industry simply because it is more respectful, more co-operative.
My concern is if the ban persists, bootlegging, which is happening on a low scale as we speak, will soon become the norm.
There is a booming trade in illegal cigarettes as we speak.
I don't smoke, but I hear reports that illegal products are harsh and one brand tastes differently every time you try it. This makes me suspect that these brands might even be harmful as they clearly haven't been subjected to quality control.
Should the ban on alcohol sales persist, illegal and potentially dangerous booze from across our borders, or from private stills, will be unleashed on an unsuspecting public.
Not only will it undermine government's good intentions at arresting the spread of the scourge, price wars that are always at the centre of illegal trading might explode into violence. To put it bluntly, the criminal element is going to take over. Perhaps what we need is not a total ban, but tighter control of sales in terms of time. That is sustainable and doable.
PODCAST | Trouble brews over the latest alcohol sales ban
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