INLSA
The National Assembly. Photo: Tracey Adams
Durban – Moves to tighten liquor laws could be stepped up from this year in a bid to tackle substance abuse, Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini told the National Assembly on Wednesday.
In her budget vote speech Dlamini, who is responsible for welfare and its weight of social problems, including alcoholism and drug addiction, said the Inter-Ministerial Committee set up to tackle substance abuse had proposed strict controls be rolled out in the coming months.
Last night the Durban director of the South African National Council of Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Carol du Toit, welcomed the announcement and said that, on a global level, alcohol abuse was the biggest addiction problem facing society.
“We would support any move to address alcohol abuse, especially among our youth and vulnerable people,” she said.
Du Toit said stricter laws would contribute to the solution, but more still needed to be done. She believed restricting alcohol advertising would help curb the problem.
This comes just weeks after Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced that he, along with 10 government ministries, was considering raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 in a bid to reduce the harm caused by alcohol consumption.
Motsoaledi also said he wanted alcohol advertising banned and alcohol pricing reviewed.
The minister was addressing a World Health Organisation meeting in Boksburg at the time.
Just days before Motsoaledi’s announcement, the chief executive of the KZN Liquor Authority, Stella Khumalo, promised to loosen liquor legislation in the province and allow booze sales on Sundays.
Khumalo said the ban was a remnant of the previous regime and that lifting it was in line with the constitution, which recognised the country as a secular state.
Gauteng, however, said it would enforce a ban to stop the sale of liquor on Sundays. In the Western Cape the Sunday ban would remain in effect.
The newly announced measures by Dlamini include the draft Control of Marketing of Alcoholic Beverages bill. “Key, among others, the bill aims to restrict the marketing and promotion of alcoholic beverages, and will be presented to (the) cabinet this year before public consultations,” Dlamini said.
The committee would go even further, particularly where motorists were concerned.
“Other matters that the committee would finalise this year include measures to enhance law enforcement, such as reductions in the hours of sale of alcohol, substance abuse workplace interventions, as well as a proposal that a person who has consumed alcohol should not drive a vehicle at all,” she said.
A direct link had been drawn between the high levels of violence against women and children and substance abuse, and another ministerial committee on violence against women and children had also been set up in this regard, Dlamini said.
It would focus on prevention, protection, response, care and support.
“In this regard, I wish to commend the recent men’s dialogue convened by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, which pledged to mobilise millions of men to fight violence against women and girls,” Dlamini said.
The minister’s announcement was greeted with delight by Arrive Alive spokesman, Ashref Ismail.
“The Medical Research Council of South Africa has shown that 65 percent of road deaths are caused by alcohol abuse,” he said.
“And we support any initiative that would assist in decreasing road deaths.”
He said limiting alcohol advertising would impact on its sale.
“An advertisement’s purpose is to create a need, so if you take away the advertisement then you take away the need,” he said.
Last night Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa spokesman Gerhard Patzer, who is based in Durban, said he did not know enough about the matter to comment.
The Mercury
