Alcohol exacts deadly toll in EC

THAT Nelson Mandela Bay residents are the biggest consumers of alcohol in the province, making up 28% of all sales in the Eastern Cape, should come as no surprise. The metro is home to residents with the largest amount of disposable income at 31% – income which allows for free spending on luxuries like alcohol.

The Liquor Board-commissioned study on the socioeconomic impact of the liquor industry on the provincial economy showed the positive spinoffs of the booze business being the 23 620 direct jobs attributable to the Eastern Cape liquor industry and the R1.7-billion in taxes the industry supplies to state coffers.

The negatives unfortunately outweigh these positives because of either a lack of willingness or an incapacity to police alcohol abuse when it happens.

The high level of foetal alcohol syndrome babies being born from mothers who drink alcohol throughout their pregnancy, coupled with horrifying levels of domestic and child abuse triggered by excessive alcohol consumption, in addition to major health damage such as liver diseases and fatal car accidents due to drunk driving take a heavy toll.

According to the Medical Research Council, six out of 10 drivers who died in road accidents had dangerously high blood-alcohol levels, while one out of every seven motorists driving at night was drunk. Just one drink doubles your chances of causing an accident.

The Eastern Cape’s Liquor Board has acknowledged that alcohol remains a significant factor in the escalating cases of road accidents in the province – but acknowledgement is just not enough to curb the mayhem leashed by excessive consumption of alcohol.

Unfortunately unlike cigarette smoking, there is a tacit social acceptance to alcohol consumption in South Africa which has seen the formal and informal industry slip under the radar of necessary government legislation and policing needed to address the social, economic and health burden directly linked to alcohol abuse.