Siyabuswa - Community members have a right to oppose the issuing of liquor licences and report liquor outlets that do not comply with the National Liquor Act.
This was revealed during the Department of Trade and Industry's campaign against alcohol abuse in Digwale village near Siyabuswa in Mpumalanga on Friday.
"As community members, it is your right to oppose the issuing of a liquor licence if you feel like it is going to make life in the community miserable," said the department's chief director of the National Liquor Authority unit, Thezi Mabuza.
"You can also report liquor outlets or taverns that sell beer to children and close after stipulated hours in accordance with their liquor licences."
Mabuza said community members could make sure that taverns were not close to schools, churches, community halls and sporting fields or any other public infrastructure.
She said the campaign, which targeted mostly young people, was directed at rural areas where alcohol abuse was often seen as the only recreational activity and where selling liquor was a thriving business.
"We have funding for youth in business within the dti, but we do not fund alcohol businesses. So, young people must look for other businesses that will uplift the community but not destroy it. We are just making you aware that there is a diversity of businesses that you can embark on except selling alcohol," said Mabuza.
Mabuza added that many people in rural areas did not know their rights or the rules that govern liquor trade.
The campaign aimed to educate rural communities and others about the role they had to play to ensure children and adults were free from alcohol abuse.
According to the dti, South Africa's youth are in a dire need of education related to alcohol abuse.
"This campaign is aimed at educating our youth about the harmful effects of alcohol abuse as the World Health Organisation rated South African at number 52 on a list of 191 countries for alcohol consumption.
"Statistics also reveal that 30% of our male and female drinkers engage in binge drinking. With these figures, it is clear that efforts to discourage drinking in our communities need to be enhanced significantly," said Mabuza.
Mabuza said the campaign was driven under the United Nation's theme: "Global action for healthy communities without drugs".
"The campaign is being rolled out across the country, for now we are targeting the youth and then we are going to target women during Women's Month, where we will be talking about dangers of alcohol consumption while pregnant and other harmful effects of alcohol.
"We are also including liquor traders to teach them about rules and regulations of having a liquor licence," said Mabuza.
Meanwhile, statistics from the Mpumalanga Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (Dedet) revealed that the province had 6 582 valid liquor licences.
"In the 2011/2012 financial year, the province had a total of 6524 liquor licenses and from April to June we have approved 145 licences and only issued 58, which means now we have 6 582 valid licences in the province," Dedet spokesperson Selvy Mohlala said.
Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Leonard Hlathi said many crimes were committed during weekends, when people were drunk, and that a high percentage of crimes took place near taverns and other liquor outlets.
"We've realised that alcohol abuse has contributed to the escalating levels of social contact crimes. Many men found guilty of these crimes are found to have used alcohol as a premeditative way to gain courage to commit the crime," Hlathi said.
