Responsible alcohol use

Home-made alCoHol musT be RegulaTed

Joyce Hlungwani from Soweto brewing umqombhothi

Governments across the world have introduced more stringent liquor regulations in an effort to curb the scourge of alcohol abuse and the dangers associated with the pandemic. However there is a large market for non-commercial alcohol, which is unregulated and can have far reaching negative health effects, particularly on poorer communities who cannot afford commercial alcohol.

Illicit alcohol has not been put through the same rigorous compliance and testing standards as commercial alcohol. Mixed with ingredients from common household products to stolen jet fuel, the people consuming illicit alcohol are simply purchasing what they can afford, regardless of quality or risk.

Government has tried to regulate the alcohol industry through the implementation of stricter legislation including the potential advertising ban and using taxes to drive up the price as a means to curb the harmful effects

of alcohol and reduce consumption. However these measures are focused on the regulated industry, which already adhere to a code of conduct outlining their responsibility in terms of marketing and awareness and does not address the illicit alcohol trade.

The production and sale of illicit alcohol is just one of the unintended consequences that may decrease, rather than increase, public health and safety. While consumers may shift consumption to low quality non-commercial alcohol and illegally traffic in smuggled or counterfeit goods. The problem is not unique to South Africa and other African countries each have their own concoctions of illicit alcohol. The descriptive names indicate the potency of these mixes. Zimbabwean ‘Scud’; Botswana’s ‘tho-tho-tho’ (the dizzy spell); Nigerian ‘palm-wine’ (crazy man in the bottle) and Kenya’s ‘Jet-5’made from stolen jet fuel are just a few examples. In South Africa, Umqombothi home-made alcohol is known to be the primeval amongst the communities which produce this alcoholic beverage. In ancient times, people would use sorghum malt, ice cream, milk, sugar, yeast and Chibuku locally known as “shake-shake” and water to brew Umqombothi. It was unanimously agreed that conventionally, sugar and yeast were never used, but today some brewers add sugar and yeast. It takes seven days to prepare this home-made alcohol as it is cooked until the brewer is satisfied that the end-product is ready for consumption. It was used during social and religious occasions and by elders. However, of late, people add more hazardous substances to Umqombothi such as methylated spirits. Locals asserted that the Umqombothi which is brewed currently is not the original one. In the past Umqombothi was made up of sorghum malt, sugar and water. Almost all brewers of Umqombothi have changed conventional ingredients due to commercial reasons. Some mixes include PM10 batteries, car batteries, meths and cheap vodka.

In Limpopo, there is a home-brewed beer known as Ndzi ta kunyisa which literally means ‘I will beat you up’. Some other brewers call it Skopdonorr. It is brewed through mixing sorghum malt, maize meal, yeast, methylated spirits, brake fluids and battery acid.

Meanwhile in South Africa, senior lecturer Dr Jabulani Makhubela from the department of social work at the University of Limpopo agrees that home brews are poorly monitored for strength and ingredients.

Dr Makhubela says the harmful use of alcohol and particularly the underresearched and unrecorded home-brewed alcohol and its related problems have become one of the major global public health problems.

He says more research must be done to understand the prevalence of the problem so that necessary steps can be taken to educate communities in rural areas.

Although the argument can be made for alcohol producers benefiting from lowered prices resulting in people consuming more than they normally would, consumers know that with commercial alcohol they are getting something that is fit for human consumption. The volume of alcohol can be regulated in commercial drinks and there are warning labels on every bottle alerting people to the harmful effects of alcohol abuse.

In addition, commercial alcohol producers are able to work with policy-makers, such as ARA traders and communities at large to increase education on alcohol abuse and misuse. This is primarily due to the vested interest they have in ensuring consumers choose commercial brands over illicit ones whereas illicit alcohol producers have no incentive to do this, as long as they remain competitive on price.

Code of Commercial Communication and Code of Conduct for ARA members

All members of the ARA subscribe to a strict and comprehensive Code of Commercial Communication, which includes stringent rules on advertising, packaging and promotions and media use, which has been updated and expanded on a number of occasions.

Complaints relating to the practices of the member companies, in any of the above mentioned areas, can be reported on the toll-free complaints line 0860 272 237. Advertisements, packaging or promotions, found to be in breach of the code are withdrawn or ceased immediately, often at great expense to the company in question.

ARA has an independent code arbitrator who makes the final ruling should there be a dispute regarding whether or not the complaint is valid. The current arbitrator is Deline Beukes who has served for many years as head of the Advertising Standards Authority and is an acknowledged expert in the field.

ARA runs regular code workshops for the marketing staff of the member companies and the advertising agencies who work for the industry.

Their workshops ensure consensus regarding the interpretation of the clauses in the code. The ARA also developed a code of conduct for the retail trade which serves as a guide for both the licensed and unlicensed trade and assisted the Department of Trade and Industry with a training programme to empower licensees with necessary information and thereby assist them with ensuring legal and ethical trading.

The Code of Commercial Communication and Conduct includes:

• the commercial communication basic rules • additional rules relating specifically to packaging, promotions and media • the compliance and monitoring procedures • the complaints handling procedure

For more information visit the Industry Association for Responsible Alcohol Use on www.ara.co.za