Rob Davies is wrong about South Africans being the world's biggest alcohol consumers
Davies claimed that 'South Africa currently has the highest level of alcohol consumption in the world'
South Africans outdrink all other nations, according to South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies.Davies claimed that “South Africa currently has the highest level of alcohol consumption in the world” at a press briefing where he released the National Liquor Amendment Bill for public comment.The Bill proposes, among other things, raising the minimum drinking age in South Africa to 21 years.Is the minister’s claim true?Source of department’s statistic unknownThe press release published on the department’s website notes, “according to Minister Davies, South Africa currently has the highest level of alcohol consumption in the world at 10-12% as compared to the world average of 6%”.We contacted the department’s spokesman for comment on how they arrived at these figures but he did not respond to emails and phone calls.It’s unclear where these percentages come from or what they refer to. The department has previously cited World Health Organisation (WHO) data in their docu...
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