PARENTS NEED TO TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL
RELATING TO CHILDREN
Parents need to take responsibility for the consumption of alcohol in
relation to their children. This was said by the former Bafana Bafana player
Jabu Mahlangu, formerly known as Jabu Pule. Mahlangu was giving a testimony
about his life at the seminar on curbing alcohol abuse in South Africa, which
took place at Diep in die Berg in Pretoria East today.
The seminar was organised by the Department of Trade and Industry (the
dti) as part of its consultation process with stakeholders and industry on
the draft National Liquor Policy Review which is currently open for public
comment until 13 August 2015.
“I started drinking at the age of 11 years because I grew up in an
environment where almost everyone in the family was drinking alcohol. Because
as a child I was exposed to the drinking, and also through being sent to
purchase liquor for my parents, drinking alcohol ended up being a lifestyle,”
said Mahlangu.
He highlighted that although he was talented at playing soccer, alcohol
abuse played a huge role in destroying his life and his career.
Mahlangu described alcohol abuse as a serious disease and said he was
involved in a lot of motor accidents because of the behaviour. He encouraged
parents to take responsibility for their children and ensure that they utilise
their freedom in a responsible manner as this behaviour could ruin lives.
Speaking at the same event, a representative of Tuks’ South African
Students Congress (SASCO) at the University of Pretoria, Mr Tumelo Rasebopye
said in order to facilitate student success, restriction of alcohol consumption
was important. He said the University of Pretoria had put in place measures to
regulate alcohol consumption in the campus.
“In order to create a culture that focuses on learning and to reduce
promotion of behaviours that will be harmful to the future of students, the
university has put in place policies to regulate access to alcohol. The
municipality has also been engaged to rezone the areas that are in close
proximity of the campus to ensure that there are no clubs that sell alcohol to
students,” he added.
Rasebopye highlighted the support from the student leadership for
government to increase the liquor consumption age from 18 to 21 years of age.
The seminar also discussed the significance of restrictions on
advertising and prohibition of sponsorship. The Chief Director for
Non-communicable Diseases at the Department of Health, Dr Melvin Freeman said
government needed to ensure that the environment is not encouraging for people
to abuse alcohol. According to him, advertising is one of the factors which,
through mobilisation and glamorisation of the behaviour makes it “cool” to
consume alcohol. He stressed that people should not be exposed to messaging
that drinking is acceptable.
Ms Conny Nxumalo, the Deputy Director-General at the Department of
Social Development highlighted the coordinated approach that government has
adopted in regard to alcohol abuse through the Inter-Ministerial Committee that
President Jacob Zuma established in 2010. She emphasised that South Africans
should not continue being in denial about the issue of liquor abuse.
the dti has published proposals for public comments which include strengthening
the approach on combating liquor abuse and illegal trading, including adjusting
the age limit for the supply of liquor, also enhancing the liability for
traders to ensure that liquor traders operate in a socially responsible manner.
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