By Terri-Liza Fortein
We should not forget!We should not stop pursuing justice!We should not stop until we see decisive action from the government!There isn’t any South African who shouldn’t be throwing their weight behind finding ways to reduce the harm alcohol causes in general, but in particular the harm it causes our children.They need protection and guidance most.
As youth month draws to a close and the one-year anniversary of the Enyobeni Tavern tragedy is commemorated there is no better time to re-emphasize the importance of making South Africa Alcohol Safer for the more than 20 million children who call it home and the millions more youth who suffer the daily effects of alcohol harm.
Since 2012 the Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance in South Africa (SAAPA SA) has been working to strengthen alcohol legislation that will reduce alcohol harm and its impact on our people. Through many initiatives we have tried to demonstrate that the current levels of alcohol harm prevalent in South African communities cannot continue and we have implored the government to strengthen liquor legislation by passing laws that will reduce harm, resourcing and enforcing existing laws related to liquor and liquor trading.
In the early hours of June 26 last year, 21 young people died in one of the most tragic alcohol harm related incidents in the history of this country, yet still no decisive action has been taken by government or evidence-based changes have been made to legislation to prevent this scenario from repeating itself.
Hardly six months later in December on Christmas Day two more children died under similar circumstances in a tavern in Hofmeyr and earlier this year in April Thimna Kuze,13, was raped and murdered after her rapist gave her alcohol.The scene set by these three incidents demonstrates the kinds of harm alcohol causes in our children and young people’s lives -literally killing them. These are the reported cases that made it into the media space, what of the unreported cases, silent suffering of children and young people across the country?
We cannot allow the status quo to continue and while the owners of the Enyobeni tavern are facing criminal charges, the Hofmeyr cases are being investigated and Thimna Kuze’s alleged rapist has been arrested, this isn’t sufficient.We need to look at the structural and environmental issues that infringed on the constitutional rights of these children to be protected.
The buck stops completely with the government at local, provincial and national levels and its enforcement agencies.The Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance in South Africa (SAAPA SA) at the time of the Enyobeni tragedy and for the 12 months that followed, embarked on a series of activities including lobbying for the urgent passing of the Liquor Amendment Bill of 2016, making a submission to the SA Human Rights Commission for an inquiry into the deaths to identify all who should be held accountable and not only the tavern owner, submission to the Presidency for a package of evidence-based laws and interventions like banning advertising and a moratorium on new licenses and the enforcement of no sales to minors . Our efforts have unfortunately yielded no tangible results.
The lack of action from the government following the Enyobeni tragedy is unacceptable, condemning children and youth to a life where their lives and safety don’t matter. SAAPA SA walked shoulder to shoulder with the parents of the children who died at Enyobeni to demonstrate at the State of the Nation Address and at one of the court appearances of the Enyobeni tavern owners, calling for justice and accountability. This was in addition to many letters written and meetings held with the government. South Africa faces a myriad of health, safety and social concerns in relation to alcohol.Harmful drinking costs an estimated R19.9-R86.2 billion a year (tangible costs), equating to 0.4-1.4% of South Africa’s GDP. Minors under the age of 18 cannot legally purchase alcohol but this is a practice that is commonplace in many South African communities.
Underage drinking however is a symptom of a much larger problem and a comprehensive, whole-of-government approach to addressing alcohol harm in its entirety is needed. We already have a National Liquor Policy; what is needed is to put in place measures to make the policy recommendations law where national and provincial laws say the same thing. Liquor retail regulation should not be a provincial competency.
The public health crisis of alcohol harm demands a coherent and coordinated national intervention across government departments.On June 30 2022 SAAPA SA marched to the offices of the SAHRC in Braamfontein and lodged a formal complaint. While the commission’s work is ongoing, no feedback has been provided on when it will conclude its investigations and make recommendations.SAAPA SA reiterates its calls to the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel, to get the Liquor Amendment Bill ready to send to Parliament which can then embark on a nation-wide public participation process to debate it without any delay.
We continue to implore the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, to scrap the proposal in the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill to authorise schools to raise funds by allowing alcohol to be served and sold on school premises and at school functions off school premises. The latest school to apply for liquor licence is Hoerskool Strand in the Western Cape and SAAPA SA has launched a formal objection to this as it will only contribute to the growing challenge of youth drinking.
We are also calling on all provinces to take urgent steps to inform the public of their right to have an effective influence over when, where and how alcohol is sold and consumed in their communities – this right is enshrined in the Constitution and in national and provincial liquor legislation, and government has a responsibility to do whatever is needed to facilitate the ability of the public to exercise that right.We need a proper investigation into the establishment of a Health Promotion Development Fund (HPDF), resourced through higher excise tax on alcohol, to finance efforts by government and civil society to promote an alcohol-safer country.
The Government also needs to recommit to the implementation of the recommendations of the WHO Global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol (2010) and the Global Alcohol Action Plan (2022-2030) which was adopted in May last year at the WHO’s 75th World Health Assembly.If these very critical steps are not taken anyone’s child can be added to the list of casualties that has their young lives cut short unexpectedly because alcohol harm reduction isn’t a priority for the government.
*Terri-Liza Fortein is a former Journalist, Mother to two teenagers and a Communication Specialist working to reduce alcohol harm with the Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance in South Africa.