President Cyril Ramaphosa is asking South Africans to stand firmer when it comes to alcohol – and no, he wasn’t referring to the way many locals hold their glasses with iron fists.
It’s no secret that alcohol culture is a huge part of South African culture. In 2019, we had the fifth-highest alcohol consumption rate in the world, according to the WHO. If it weren’t for the harsh bans on alcohol during 2020 and parts of 2021, this trend may have continued.
However, following the recent East London tavern tragedy where 21 young lives were lost, the youngest being just 13-years-old, President Ramaphosa is cracking down on South Africa’s relationship with alcohol.
Also read:East London tavern update: Carbon monoxide poisoning possible cause
In his weekly letter to the public, From the desk of the President, Ramaphosa took to note that the tavern tragedy cannot be separated from the allegations that what drew so many youngsters to its premise was the promise of free alcohol.
“The footage and images posted online of the so-called ‘pens down’ party at the venue that night show revelling youngsters clutching bottles of alcohol. Many of those in the images look barely out of their teens,” wrote the President.
“The increased social acceptability of young people drinking alcohol has become a serious problem in a country where the majority of the drinking population are already classified by the World Health Organization as binge drinkers,” he added.
In furthering his stance, Ramaphosa linked two other tragic occasions to the Enyobeni tavern tragedy, namely the Throb nightclub disaster from 2000, and Osi’s tavern turmoil in Khayelitsha in 2015.
The common denominator according to the president, is that these establishments sold liquor to minors.
Ramaphosa took to shake his fist at the authorities’ failings to enforce the law and regulations, before noting that the elephant in the room is why young people are seeking alcohol as an outlet so fiercely.
In the case of the Enyobeni Tavern, the Scenery Park community noted that there is a painstaking lack of other activities for young people, including sports or youth centres.
Ramaphosa emphasised that it’s as much the responsibility of the community as it is governing bodies to protect what he dubbed the “future precious generations”.
While the president’s words raise several reasonable points, the desire to crack down on alcohol consumption and sales has long been in the works in South Africa.
During lockdown, alcohol bans were part of the first hard-hitting rules that took the country by storm, as part of the National State of Disaster coming into effect. The bans of alcohol sales were long-lasting, then on and off, and eventually fell into limited trading hours. The result? A huge black market for the sale of alcohol. A study by Euromonitor which was commissioned by the SA alcohol industry discovered that our illicit alcohol market had soared to over R20 billion.
Last year, the government wanted to introduce new alcohol-sale regulations in the country, noting that the legislature needed to be re-looked at, as BusinessTech reminds. Age limit raises were on the cards, but so were trading hours and the invitation of further taxation.
The Liquor Amendment Bill has been on the menu for some time now but has not made much movement.
Then there is the Western Cape’s stance, whereby the government also sought to navigate some rules as a path to preventing abuse. Earlier this year, the Western Cape provincial government made moves to progress with the proposed amendments to the Western Cape Liquor Act, in what was called “the province’s deadly relationship with alcohol.”
So, are tighter restrictions coming our way? And if so, is it high time we need them, or is this a hopeless pursuit that will fuel illicit trading?
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