It’s going to be much harder to buy a beer in Cape Town‚ if the Western Cape government has its way. The provincial government is worried about how much alcohol abuse is costing it, and says that ultimately the taxpayer is subsidising the industry. The Alcohol Harms Reduction Policy White Paper was published last week. It explains the provincial government’s thinking on mitigating the violence and expenses linked to the abuse of alcohol. It reads: "Despite the profits of the liquor industry‚ the public sector experiences a net loss‚ spending more to address harms than it raises from tax and excise." The White Paper was published last week in the Western Cape provincial gazette following more than 200 comments. The province aims to make alcohol more expensive and as hard as possible to buy‚ while increasing enforcement. "This important and valuable economic benefit must be measured against the economic‚ social and health costs associated with the end use of products and must take int...
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