Change is upon us as SA will launch new alcohol laws soon
Could there be a change in the alcohol laws soon?
As the country came out of a hard lockdown of covid-19, there has been an incline in alcohol abuse.
This has made things tough for South Africa as government are considering a change in the Liquor Amendment Bill.
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Those were the thoughts of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition. According to the department, the bill has been on hold since 2018.
According to Business Tech, the bill does seek to amend the National Liquor Act of 2003. This can be done by tightening alcohol restrictions, advertising and regulating where alcohol is sold.
The department spokesperson Bongani Lukhele, has reiterated that the Bill is being under review by the department.
"During the Covid-19 pandemic, it became more apparent that the problem of liquor abuse is quite huge in South Africa, and requires more concerted measures," says Bongani.
Read more: Poll - Should government change the liquor laws?
The aim for the department is that they would want to send the bill to Parliament.
However, there are certain groups that would want this to accelerate a lot faster than initially planned.
Maurice Smithers, is the Director of the Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance in South Africa, he does feel that the Liquor Act had been reviewed back in 2015 and seems to be inadequate and inconsistent.
It also according to Maurice, it doesn't meet the World Health Organisation’s Global Strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol.
So from the Global Strategy point of view, they actually suggest three priorities which are, reducing the availability of alcohol, increasing its cost, and limiting or banning marketing.
Based on the priorities, who knows whether or not they seemed to get things right.
Read more: KZN Liquor Authority want outlets involved in deadly shootings shut down
Should government really change its liquor laws?
Well based on the bill and what it's actually done for people due to the many incidents that have occurred in the last couple months, only time can tell.
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