South Africa has an alcohol problem, and we need to challenge how it is advertised.

The South African Muslim Network encourages all South Africans to monitor and complain about alcohol advertising that breaches the regulations, and to push for stronger limits on that advertising.

The scale of the harm

South Africans have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. It has done immeasurable damage to our collective health, our social structures, our moral choices, our mental health, our safety and our economy.

The research on its harms is extensive and not seriously in dispute: danger on our roads, damage to families and marriages, sexual abuse and gender-based violence, the spread of STIs, harm to children, injuries, absenteeism and poor decisions in workplaces, violent crime and hospital admissions. The harm from misuse and abuse far outweighs whatever is gained from “responsible” use.

A critical part of this is promotion and advertising that frames drinking as aspirational, glamorous and harmless — creating and feeding addiction in a society already under immense stress.

What we are calling for

SAMNET calls on the public and civil society to make this a priority. If we speak out, we will be heard. We need to actively address, complain about and regulate the following:

• End alcohol advertising in sport and online, and restrict it on TV and radio, with health warnings. At present the only adverts in a sports half-time break are alcohol and gambling — interlinked, and both feeding addictive behaviour.
• Location and registration of alcohol outlets. No bars, shebeens or bottle stores near schools or places of worship. The current laws are too weak and are not enforced.
• No alcohol outlets or availability on campuses or at schools. We are concerned that the BELA Bill loosens the rules on liquor on school premises, and that it ignores alcohol’s role in school and campus pregnancy and in addiction among staff.
• No glamorisation of alcohol in advertising. The use of influencers and celebrities, and the styling of the adverts themselves, must stop.
• End self-regulation by an industry that profits from addiction. We do not let pharmaceutical companies self-regulate addictive prescription drugs.
• Reporting on lobbying by the alcohol industry. Politics must be free of abusive lobbying.
• Stronger consequences for alcohol in workplaces. It is a danger and it damages our economy.
• And many other avenues — public health facilities, police, social welfare.

The public, and especially our women, who carry an unequal share of alcohol’s consequences, must act now and act together.

The case in the news

The ARB ruling below may look laudable, and we agree with the decision. But it is also an indication of how incestuous and self-serving the industry is — the very same industry uses international celebrities to promote its own brands. The standard must apply equally, and regulation must go much further on advertising that feeds addiction, gambling included.

“Very much a party vibe”: ARB orders Cassper Nyovest’s tequila brand to pull ad glamourising drinking — News24, 18 July 2024.

Where to complain

We advise writing to, and meeting with:

• The Advertising Regulatory Board
• The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa
• The Minister, Members of Parliament, and Portfolio Committee chairs and members
• Political parties
• Community police forums
• Local municipalities, mayors and councillors
• The media

And protest actively at the cases and the locations where the regulations and the law are being broken.

Related

Alcoholism in South Africa · Harm Reduction for Children and Youth — Alcohol and Addictive Substances

Shared by the South African Muslim Network (SAMNET) in the interest of fighting the harms of alcohol and legal addictions in South Africa, for the benefit of our youth, women and children.