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The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) will embark on its annual national festive season compliance and liquor abuse awareness campaign aimed at educating liquor traders about the importance of compliance with the country’s liquor laws and raising awareness among members of the public about the adverse effects of liquor abuse, particularly during the festive season.

The campaign, whose theme is Combating Liquor Abuse is Everyone’s Business targets all provinces and will begin in Siyabuswa in Mpumalanga on Tuesday, 24 November 2015 and end in Rustenburg, in the North West on 11 December 2015.   

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies says the dti embarks on the campaign because 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," says Minister Davies.

He adds that 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,” emphasises Minister Davies.

He adds that 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 be visiting 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.

Issued by The Department of Trade and Industry