By Rhys Evans, MD of ALCO-Safe

In July this year, following a tragic incident in which 21 young people lost their lives in an Eastern Cape Tavern, President Ramaphosa considered raising the legal drinking age to 21. While such proposed laws should be welcomed, without proper enforcement the desired outcome cannot be achieved.

The consumption of alcohol by youngsters is seriously detrimental to their physical health and educational progress but raising the legal drinking age on its own is insufficient to protect the youth from the harmful effects of excessive alcohol consumption.  South Africa already has the necessary legislative framework in place to ensure  alcohol-free workplaces and roads but extending this protection to the youth will necessitate much stricter law enforcement.

The scary reality

One third of the South African population is under the age of 18. According to Aware.org, 50% of teenagers in South Africa drink alcohol. Globally, alcohol is a leading risk factor for death and disability among adolescents aged 15 to 19 years. Several factors influence an outcome of alcohol abuse, including accessibility and affordability of the substance, along with indiscriminate, irresponsible marketing.

South Africa’s culture of excess

In 2015, it was estimated that between 27 000 and 103 000 people in South Africa died because of alcohol. In other words, between 74 and 282 adult deaths were related to alcohol per day. South Africa’s alcohol problem was starkly highlighted throughout the Covid-19 lockdown, and now that all lockdown restrictions have been lifted, it’s back to normal with liquor being freely available for all.

While increasing the legal age limit for alcohol consumption can be beneficial, such measures will likely be pointless without the proper backing of law enforcement entities, such as the police and liquor licensing boards. The fact that alcohol can be sold to individuals as young as 10 years of age shows a clear lack of legal enforcement, even with the current drinking age in place.

Leading by example

The habits of our youth are shaped by their parents. With South African youth developing alcohol dependence problems from a young age, this compromises the future of our country. Children who see their parents engaged in excessive alcohol consumption start to believe that is the norm and follow this type of example, in turn teaching the acceptability of this culture of excess to their own children.

However, parents do not bear the sole responsibility of shifting the narrative of acceptable consumption behaviour. While there is undoubtedly an increased need for good parenting and stronger family ties, it is also necessary to address the problem at a community level. To do so will require better recreational facilities in communities, along with extramural programmes at schools to keep youngsters occupied. There also needs to be better enforcement of the legal age of sale at outlets, as well as more community engagement that prioritises the health of children over making a profit through underage liquor sales.

A shared responsibility for our youth

Such interventions would go a long way towards reducing alcohol consumption by young people and the associated harms but addressing the problem doesn’t end there. The South African government has a pressing responsibility to protect children from the dangers of alcohol-related threats to their safety.

To this end, The Conversation has strongly recommended that tough action be taken. Such measures include an increase in excise taxes on products that appeal to young people, such as fruit-flavoured alcoholic beverages. Furthermore, there needs to be a ban on free alcohol promotions and other forms of heavy discounting of alcohol prices, in addition to restricting the exposure of young people to alcohol marketing, through points of sale, on billboards, at sporting events and on social media.

Stricter enforcement is critical

From an awareness and educational perspective, there needs to be an accreditation of school-based prevention programmes, which will improve the quality of the outcomes delivered. Government also has a responsibility to ensure that there are sufficient treatment programmes available for young people with dependency issues.

Along with these preventative steps, stricter enforcement measures should include more frequent inspections of liquor outlets to ensure compliance with licensing regulations, as well as increased criminal penalties for contravening regulations. For people buying alcohol by means of on-demand, home delivery grocery apps, there must be a mandatory verification of age at the time of purchase and delivery. To further clamp down on drinking in the youth population, it has been suggested that a graduated driver’s licensing system be implemented, whereby drivers aged 18 to 21 years are not permitted to test positive for any alcohol when driving, and that this be strictly enforced through more frequent roadblocks.

Protecting our future

For this to happen, we need a clear, multi-sectoral national plan to guide society’s actions moving forward. Our alcohol industry must support the notion of not perpetuating harmful drinking patterns in a way that puts people before profits and compromises the future of our youth. As noted by the South African Medical Research Council, we have a unique opportunity as a nation and a deep responsibility to our youth to create a safer drinking environment. As such, we should not take underage drinking lightly.

Source: ALCO-Safe