Big changes for alcohol on the cards for South Africa
A new private members’ bill has been tabled in parliament seeking to introduce a complete ban on the advertising of alcohol in the country.
The Liquor Amendment Bill was introduced by EFF member of parliament, Ntombovuyo Veronica Mente-Nkuna.
It broadly aims to prohibit the advertisement, promotion or product placement of liquor in South Africa, also calling on the state to make deliberate attempts to “counter the normalisation of alcohol and liquor usage.”
The bill hopes to provide a legislative mechanism through which the state can prevent the advertisement of liquor and meet these broader aims.
According to its explanatory note, the bill aims to amend the Liquor Act, 2003, so as to:
- Insert certain definitions;
- Prohibit the advertising, promotion or product placement of liquor in all forms of media;
- Prohibit the use of a manufacturer’s name or any brand element to promote liquor or the consumption of liquor;
- Prohibit the organising, promoting of, or the making of a financial contribution to, an organised event by a registered person; and
- Provide for matters connected therewith.
Notably, the tabled bill differs greatly from previous attempts to rein in liquor advertising in South Africa.
A previous Liquor Amendment Bill was published by the Department of Trade and Industry for public comment in 2016, which went nowhere and eventually lapsed.
While that bill would have also restricted alcohol advertising, it had other controversial proposals in it, like raising the legal drinking age in South Africa to 21, and prohibiting the sale of liquor in residential areas, near schools and places of worship.
These latter proposals are not in the new bill.
World Health Organisation data indicates that South Africa’s per capita alcohol consumption is among the highest in the world.
The laws have long been deemed necessary from a public health perspective, but have faced backlash from the industries impacted.
While the other proposals in the lapsed bill are moot for the time being, the alcohol industry had long advocated for a self-regulation approach to alcohol advertising, which the new bill is directly targeting.
A big concern in prohibitive legislation is the economic impact it will have on the industry. This has been a similar point of contention in the government’s clampdown on other vices, like smoking and vaping.
Even as the social and health outcomes of such laws are deemed necessary and even find support within the industries they target, they are also seen as blunt tools that don’t necessarily address the core issues at play.
Need for balance
The proposed laws have found at least some wider socio-political support.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) broadly welcomed the bill’s tabling at Parliament this week, saying that it has engaged extensively on the matter over the years.
Is said that there was a need to strengthen the Liquor Act and a progressive response to “the crisis of alcohol abuse that is endemic across South Africa”.
The federation said that the working class and rural communities were particularly hard-hit by alcohol abuse, and that South Africa’s road deaths were notoriously linked to alcohol consumption
It is estimated that 40% of the more than 14,000 road accident fatalities annually are due to the excessive consumption of alcohol, it said.
“Many incidents of violent crimes, including domestic and gender-based violence, are linked to the abuse of alcohol. It is invariably workers and their families who bear the brunt of these tragedies,” Cosatu said.
However, the federation also called for a responsible approach, considering the thousands of jobs in the alcohol industry all along the value chain.
Any economic impact on the sector could hit those working in vineyards, distilleries, bottlers, packaging, distribution, retail and hospitality.
“The challenge is to find the correct balance. What we cannot afford to do is to continue to normalise a very unhealthy relationship with alcohol with thousands dying prematurely, families losing loved ones and bread winners, and the state expected to foot the bill,” it said.
“The bill raises the importance of restricting advertising alcohol to help reduce its attraction to consumers, in particular young people. This is a key mechanism to begin the journey of nudging society to a more balanced approach to the consumption of alcohol.”
The portfolio committee on trade, industry and competition will now process the bill. The bill can be read below:
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