Put your hands up if you really have no time for the Western Cape Government (WCG),and their issues with alcohol?

We already follow strict guidelines, but the WCG is now proposing even harsher policies to cut down on drinking habits.

On a national level government wants to kill alcohol advertising and sponsorship, as well as raising the legal drinking age to 21, but the Western Cape is leading the way when compared to the rest of the country.

In a green paper gazetted this week, WCG announced that the tangible and intangible cost that alcohol abuse has on the South African economy is between R245 billion and R280 billion.

Alcoholic beverages, on the other hand, only economically contribute R73 billion. Eish.

In the green paper, the WCG said that:

The province was “habitually worse” than other provinces when it comes to alcohol-related harm statistics. This is across the tangible (crimes, accidents, healthcare) and intangible (welfare, absenteeism, premature mortality) categories.

They then put forward the following proposals (among many others):

• Limiting trading hours and reducing the density of alcohol outlets.
• Increasing the price of alcohol nationally through tax or setting minimum unit pricing.
• Reducing the actual alcohol content in beverages, through national policy.
• Increasing enforcement of under-age drinking regulations, particularly ID checks, which are often not done.
• Better enforcement all-round, especially when it comes to unlicenced venues, and increasing use of breathalysers to catch drunk drivers.
• A zero-tolerance approach to drinking and driving among new drivers – where no driver under the age of 21 or persons within 3 years of getting their first licence should be allowed to consume any alcohol at all.
• The province also supports a national ban on alcohol advertising, promotion and marketing. Failing an outright ban, it proposes introducing a levy on such marketing to finance counter-advertising warning of the dangers of alcohol.

Don’t agree with something? Let them know. You can add your comment HERE, and you have until the end of September to do so.

Personally, I think the WCG needs to think long and hard about why the people in the Western Cape have such a bad relationships with alcohol and drugs, and perhaps attempt to sort out the root of the problem instead.

I guess they will never learn.

[source:businesstech]