Stakeholders in South Africa's alcohol industry are requesting the research data that informed the recent reinstatement of the ban on sales and distribution of alcohol during the Covid-19 lockdown.
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Based on the South African Medical Research Council's (SAMRC) recommendations, the Government came to the sudden decision to stop all business operations across the alcohol industry. Sibani Mngadi, spokesperson for the South African alcohol industry, said the decision undermines the overall supply chain logistics and puts at risk almost a million jobs supported by the industry.
In a statement on behalf of the industry – including manufacturers, the National Liquor Traders Council, South African Liquor Brandowners Association (SALBA), the Beer Association of South Africa (BASA), Vinpro and the Liquor Traders Association of South Africa (LTASA) – Mngadi said that Professor Charles Parry, head of the SAMRC's Alcohol, Tobacco & Other Drug Research Unit made several claims about the benefit of the new ban in preserving a certain number of hospital beds as well as providing financial savings to the public health sector.
The alcohol industry has written to the Medical Research Council (MRC) requesting the data used to decide to prohibit the formal sale and distribution of alcohol with immediate effect, as of midnight on Sunday, 12 July. Mngadi said that access to the data will enable the industry and any other interested parties to understand better how these indicated conclusions and assumptions were arrived at.
Designing sustainable, targeted interventions
"We agree with SAMRC President Dr Glenda Gray that there should be a national alcohol policy and an endeavour to promote responsible drinking," the statement said.
Mngadi continued, "We have offered to help set up a national multi-stakeholder forum with Government and civil society focusing on identifying and prioritising problem areas – based on research and credible current data – and jointly designing interventions targeting these key areas with enhanced current programmes and new measurable and evidence-based initiatives.
"More importantly, the suggested SAMRC data may assist us in designing and implementing the sustainable, targeted interventions to reduce alcohol harm that we are currently working on."
