Lobby group complains to UN about Bill delay

Anti-alcohol lobby group the Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance has complained to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights about the lack of transparency and access to information with regard to the proposed Control of Marketing of Alcoholic Beverages Bill. A Cape Argus report says in a submission made to the UN, the group lambasted the government’s slow response to releasing the Bill. ‘Various rights are implicated by alcohol consumption (linked to advertising) and the effects thereof. Therefore, the withholding of the 2013 Bill violates both constitutional and international socio-economic rights obligations,’ the submission said. The alliance’s spokesperson, Aadilah Maker Diedericks, said: ‘We have, without success, made numerous requests to the government for the release of the Control of Marketing of Alcoholic Beverages Bill of 2013. In its 2017 report to the UN, the SA government refers to the draft Bill as one of its "achievements". ‘But is it an “achievement” if there has been no progress with it since 2013 when it was approved by the Cabinet for public comment, but not released to the public for comment as it should have been?’

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