Being smart about alcohol

Writer: De Waal Steyn.

The Western Cape wants to amend the province’s liquor act to halve the number of murders in the province in the next 10 years.

This is according to Western Cape Minister of Community Safety, Albert Fritz, who said his department is making good progress with the proposed amendments to the liquor act, which are aligned with Premier Alan Winde’s Smart Interventions aimed at reducing alcohol-related harms and halving the murder rate in the province.

In July Winde announced the establishment of an Alcohol Harms Task Team which will drive initiatives aimed at reducing the harms of alcohol on society. Amongst others, the focus areas of the task team will include determining the potential impact and feasibility of implementing a provincial excise tax and minimum price per unit of pure alcohol in the Western Cape.

“Research evidence advised against a provincial excise tax, with its primary impact being on moderate drinkers and little significant impact on the most problematic categories of heavy and binge drinking. It did, however, indicate that the introduction of a minimum price per unit of pure alcohol would have the desired impact on these targeted heavy and binge drinkers,” Winde said.

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