In 2022, once again, the excise tax component of the annual Budget Speech has left the Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance in SA (SAAPA SA) with mixed feelings. On the positive side, government didn’t give in to pressure from the alcohol industry which was calling for a zero increase or at least one below the …

The World Health Organisation (WHO) Alcohol Action Plan 2022-2030 will be the new roadmap to guide global action to reduce alcohol-related harm.  African governments will, like others, use this WHO member state sanctioned plan when passing legislation and implementing programmes to reduce alcohol harm. We call on African Ministers of Health and WHO Executive Board …

The Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance (SAAPA) and The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) with the support of the Ford Foundation published an evidence-based review on alcohol availability and the associated effect it has on Gender Based Violence (GBV)on 2 December 2021. The report was released during  the worldwide 16 Days of Activism campaign  which began …

Multinational brewer Heineken, as of 15 November 2021, has made a R40.1bn offer to Distell, a global brewing business based in South Africa. The bid pushes the beverage company as frontrunner in the Beer scramble for the African continent. This move demonstrates that the global liquor producer believes that South Africa and Namibia have gateway …

The Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance in South Africa (SAAPA SA) calls on all freshly-elected ward and PR councillors to make sure that reducing alcohol harm in the communities they serve is near the top of their delivery agenda as they take up their new positions. South Africans went to the polls on 1 November …

On Friday 27 August, Heineken plans to hand out free zero alcohol ‘beer’ to the public as part of the championing of their ‘National Take a beer to work’ day in South Africa, a day that they themselves invented and launched here in 2019, cynically appropriating patriotism to shape drinking culture. Heineken undertook a similar …

As countries in southern Africa decrease restrictions on the sale of alcohol, the question that should be asked is, do we want to see and experience a permanent change in how alcohol is sold and consumed in our communities and country?  This question should be asked by politicians, media workers, civil society organisations working in …

The Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance in SA (SAAPA SA) is concerned about the recent announcement in South Africa that a supermarket chain outlet attached to a petrol station in Johannesburg has been awarded a liquor licence. SAAPA SA calls on all Provincial Liquor Authorities to implement an immediate moratorium on the awarding of all …

It is expected that, government will advise the country on whether the current Level 4 lockdown restrictions will remain in place as we fight the 3rd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Delta variant in particular. One of the issues under consideration will be whether to continue with the suspension of the sale of alcohol in …

2021 Theme “Share Facts on Drugs, Save Lives” This day comes at the right time when many people in Lesotho especially in Maseru are losing their lives and properties, and cars because of drinking and driving. Why should alcohol abuse be a concern for government? According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) 82% of Basotho …