Pretoria - The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) on Friday hosted an alcohol and substance abuse prevention campaign at the Phiritona Young Fighters Sports Ground in Heilbron in the Free State.
The campaign was aimed at tackling the spiralling rise of alcohol and substance abuse among the youth of Heilbron.
The dti’s Chief Director responsible for the National Liquor Authority (NLA), Thezi Mabuza, said the national Department of Health’s alcohol and substance abuse statistics identified Heilbron as one of the areas experiencing a rise in incidents of alcohol and drug abuse, especially among primary and secondary school learners.
“This campaign is a step forward in reversing the negative effects that alcohol and substance abuse have had on the community of Heilbron.
“Our campaign aims to create awareness, educate and encourage our youth to abstain from alcohol abuse and provide them with alternatives that would influence them to be responsible citizens, who can contribute positively to the economic growth of our country,” she said.
Mabuza said the Liquor Act of 2003 required the dti to reduce the socio-economic costs of liquor abuse in the country.
“We are required to promote the development of a responsible liquor industry, in a manner that inculcates the ethos of social responsibility, among other things.
“With this campaign, we intend to encourage our young people to change their behaviour and positively utilise their time and energy to grapple with challenges that they face, such as unemployment and sexually transmitted infections,” Mabuza said.
The campaign ran concurrently with a Formalisation Workshop, during which entrepreneurs in the creative industry were shown the various products and services offered by the dti and its agencies to help them formalise their businesses, particularly in the cooperatives sector.
“We are also intending to empower the youth of Heilbron to participate in the mainstream economy by encouraging them to develop their entrepreneurial skills and raising awareness about the negative behavioural activities related to alcohol abuse,” said Mabuza.
The dti’s Director for Legal Support and Prosecutions at the NLA, Sandile Nkosi, said the alcohol and substance abuse prevention campaign was preceded by a blitz inspection operation, which took place on Thursday night until the early hours of Friday morning.
“During our operation, we visited a total of 24 businesses ranging from local taverns, restaurants and bottle stores operating in Heilbron,” he said.
Nkosi said fines worth R10 500 were issued and 2 000 litres of beer were confiscated.
“We are pleased that our communities cooperated with us during these operations, as this is not only our responsibility as a department, but that of the community as well,” he said. – SAnews.gov.zab
