President seeks tougher alcohol abuse laws

President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for tougher legislation and community mobilisation against the abuse of alcohol. In the ANC's annual 8 January statement to celebrate the party's 109 birthday held virtually, the President said temporary restrictions that were placed on the availability of alcohol under the State of Disaster regulations demonstrated the extent to which abuse of alcohol fuels violence, trauma and reckless behaviour and places a burden on the health system and emergency services. ‘We must take measures to reduce the abuse of alcohol through a combination of legislative and other measures and community mobilisation,’ he is quoted as saying in a News24 report. He added foremost on the government's agenda for the year would be combating the spread of the coronavirus. ‘To overcome Covid-19, we are preparing to implement a mass vaccination programme that reaches all South Africans as appropriate quantities of an effective and suitable vaccine are procured.’ Ramaphosa also cautioned against disinformation relating to Covid-19 and unfounded conspiracy theories, its treatment and the development of vaccines.