The Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) established by Cabinet in 2011 to Combat Alcohol and Substance abuse met on Tuesday (20 August 2013) and unanimously agreed to table the Draft Control of Marketing of Alcohol Beverages Bill before Cabinet for consideration.
The IMC, chaired by Minister of Social Development, Ms Bathabile Dlamini, and comprising of 11 other Ministries agreed that the Bill, in its current form was ready for consideration by Cabinet with the view to gazette it for public comment. In the past two years, the IMC received inputs from government departments and various sectors of society on the adverse effects of alcohol advertising to South Africans.
Research has shown that, the prevalence of alcohol and drug abuse among adults in South Africa is expanding rapidly to the destruction of the families, community and society. Government cannot afford to ignore or be quiet about it.
The effects of this scourge are devastating and most family units have been rendered dysfunctional. The IMC acknowledges that alcohol and substance abuse is not only a South African challenge but a global problem which is affecting mostly young people, thus the need for a concerted national effort to tackle the scourge.
The IMC in the recent past heard that stakeholders linked to the alcohol industry and its upstream and downstream value chain, such as the advertising industry, tend to focus on "responsible drinking" and "individual responsibility" as the preferred method of reducing harm. The IMC agreed that this approach is at odds with most of the evidence gathered by various researches across the globe and that there was a need for various approaches, including the banning of alcohol advertising to deal with the devastating socio-economic impact of this scourge.
The Department of Health presented that tangible costs of alcohol in South Africa have been estimated to be close to R38 billion while intangible costs could reach R240 billion. It is reported that alcohol is the third leading risk factor for death and disability in South Africa. The Department of Education reported that 13% of Grade 8 to Grade 11 experimented with drugs, while 19% participated in binge drinking.
The Department of Transport reported that data on non-natural deaths in South Africa indicated that 61% people who died as a result of violence, 41% of suicide and 56% of transport related deaths had positive blood alcohol levels; around 70% of domestic violence has been associated with alcohol; arrestees indicated that they were under the influence of alcohol for 25% of weapons related offences, 22% of rapes, 17% of murders, 14 of assault cases and 10% of robberies.
The IMC also heard that the voluntary levy by the alcohol industry has not been effective in dealing with the destructive nature of alcohol and its associated challenges. Furthermore, the IMC agreed on proposals to off-set the potential loss of revenue for the arts and culture and various sporting codes when the Bill comes into effect.
