Dti to kick off liquor abuse awareness campaign
The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) will kick off its annual national festive season compliance and liquor abuse awareness campaign on Tuesday.
The campaign is aimed at educating liquor traders about the importance of compliance with the country’s liquor laws and raising awareness among the public about the adverse effects of liquor abuse, especially during the festive season.
Trade and Industry Minister, Dr Rob Davies, said the dti has embarked on the campaign because the festive season is notorious for excessive and irresponsible liquor consumption, as well as the violation of the country’s liquor laws by traders.
“Liquor sales are above average and so is consumption during the festive season. It is peak time for liquor traders, so they need to be reminded to trade responsibly as per the conditions of trading licences.
“Given the spending and consumption hype that is inherent in the season, traders are more often tempted to exceed their allowed trading hours and ignore their conditions of trade such as sales to minors and already intoxicated people,” said Minister Davies on Monday.
He said since drinking liquor is perceived as a common form of recreation, it is important to warn consumers of the dangers of over-indulgence.
“It is important to repeatedly impress upon consumers that alcohol abuse is not only dangerous to their own health, but also leads to unnecessary loss of lives.”
He said the message that will be disseminated to members of the public through the campaign is that every community member needs to play a role and report cases of illegal liquor trading or violation of both the provincial and national liquor laws by traders.
During the campaign, officials from the dti’s National Liquor Authority will visit various shopping malls, taxi ranks and central business districts where they will interact with members of the public and liquor traders to educate them about the dangers of alcohol abuse and non-compliance.
An industrial theatre performance will form part of the various communication platforms that will be utilised to disseminate the message during the campaign.
The campaign, under the theme ‘Combating Liquor Abuse is Everyone’s Business’, will kick off in Siyabuswa, Mpumalanga, on Tuesday and will end in Rustenburg in the North West on 11 December 2015
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