Liquor advertising ought to be banned, Western Cape social development minister Patricia de Lille said today.
Opening a Cape Town summit on substance abuse, she said government programmes to educate people on alcohol abuse would not achieve much “for as long as the liquor industry is the largest conveyer of information on alcohol to the public”.
“Having seen the impact of alcohol abuse on our communities, if I had my way I would ban all alcohol advertising to level the playing fields,” she said.
De Lille said the Western Cape was the “drinking capital” of South Africa, as it had the highest number of heavy drinkers and the highest proportion of binge drinkers.
South Africa itself was among the top three heaviest-drinking nations in the world.
