The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) in conjunction with the Eastern Cape Liquor Board will launch the annual national Festive Season Liquor Compliance and Awareness Campaign at the Pine Lodge, Port Elizabeth on Friday, 30 November 2012. The campaign, which will run until 31 December 2012 under the theme “Responsible liquor trading and consumption is everybody’s business!” will be used as a platform to convey compliance messages targeting liquor traders and raise awareness among all members of the public on the adverse effects of liquor abuse, particularly during the festive season.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies says the campaign couldn’t have come at a more opportune time as the festive season is notorious for excessive and irresponsible liquor consumption, as well as violation of the country’s liquor laws by traders.
“It is important to repeatedly impress upon consumers that alcohol abuse is not only dangerous to their own health, but it also costs the country millions of rands and leads to unnecessary loss of lives. The message that is being disseminated to members of the public through the campaign is that every community member needs to play a role and report cases of illegal liquor trading or violation of both the provincial and national liquor laws by traders. The campaign is also targeted at traders who are encouraged to comply with the country’s liquor laws,” says Minister Davies.
He adds that most people over indulge in everything in the name of having fun as the festive season is a happy season and the consequences are in most cases not as envisaged.
“Liquor sales are above average and so is consumption during the festive season. Since drinking liquor is perceived as a common form of recreation, it is important to warn consumers of the dangers of over-indulgence. On the other hand, this is peak time for liquor traders, so they also need to be reminded to trade responsibly as per their conditions of trade. Given the spending and consumption hype that is inherent in the season, traders are more often tempted to exceed their allowed trading hours and ignore their conditions of trade such as sales to minors and already intoxicated people,” said Minister Davies.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) report presented at the biennial liquor regulatory conference held in Durban this year, South Africa is ranked 3rd within the BRICS countries in terms per capita consumption. The per capita consumption is also above the African Regional average where in SA is estimated to have alcohol consumption at a score of 4 in a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being most risky. South Africa falls into the second highest category of countries in terms of harmful patterns of drinking, 30% of our males and female drinkers are engaged in heavy episodic drinking. The WHO report also shows that per capita consumption in RSA is higher suggesting that a small population excessively drinks and very few are giving up drinking.
The Eastern Cape Liquor Board earlier conducted a research on the negative socio-economic impact of liquor in the province. Its CEO Mr Gonza Mati says that according to the findings of the research Nelson Mandela Metro, Cacadu District has a high prevalence of alcohol consumption compared to other districts. Mati added that the Board will be embarking on a number of drives to mitigate the negative social and economic impacts that are caused by excessive drinking of liquor.
The Eastern Cape Liquor Board will, on Friday the 30th November 2012, be embarking on an awareness drive on the Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in Bethelsdorp.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe – Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: 012 394 1650
Mobile: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
