In his weekly e-newsletter, President Cyril Ramaphosa recommended those that assisted the households affected by the Enyobeni Tavern tragedy. He additionally addressed underage drinking.
“Alcohol use amongst adolescents is associated with impaired function, absenteeism from learning, alcohol-related injuries, suicidal thoughts and attempts, and risky behaviour”, Ramaphosa mentioned.
He known as on South Africans to “come together to combat this vice which is robbing our young people of the best years of their lives”.
The president mentioned households should have an open and frank conversation about alcohol whereas adults ought to chorus from exposing minors to alcohol.
Read his e-newsletter under.
Dear Fellow South African
Just over a week in the past, in the early hours of a Sunday morning, households in the township of Scenery Park outdoors East London, obtained information that each guardian prays they by no means get to listen to.
They have been instructed that 21 of their youngsters had been discovered lifeless, in a tavern. The youngest baby was solely 13 years previous.
The police investigation into the tragedy is continuing apace. Flowing from the investigations, the Buffalo City Metro is trying into whether or not the tavern violated any municipal rules.
As we put together to put these younger folks to relaxation this week, our ideas and prayers are with the households who’re struggling to come back to phrases with this unspeakable horror.
We commend the Eastern Cape provincial authorities for aiding the affected households, in addition to AVBOB which has pledged to help the households with the burials.
Even because the related authorities deconstruct what occurred to make sure there may be justice for the victims, there may be a conversation we do need to have as a nation.
It is the issue of underage drinking.
Underage drinking in SA
The footage and pictures posted on-line of the so-called ‘pens down’ social gathering on the venue that evening present revelling children clutching bottles of alcohol.
Many of these in the pictures look barely out of their teenagers.
A quantity of younger folks from Scenery Park have instructed the media of having seen a publish circulated on social media, providing free rounds of alcohol to all who attended the occasion that evening.
The elevated social acceptability of younger folks drinking alcohol has turn out to be a serious downside in a nation the place the bulk of the drinking inhabitants are already labeled by the World Health Organization as binge drinkers.
Alcohol use amongst adolescents is related to impaired perform, absenteeism from studying, alcohol-related accidents, suicidal ideas and makes an attempt, and dangerous behaviour.
We should come collectively to fight this vice that’s robbing our younger folks of one of the best years of their lives, and making them inclined to alcohol habit.
As households it means having open and frank conversations about alcohol and setting boundaries. Children below the age of 18 consuming alcohol is in opposition to the legislation.
As adults, we should always chorus from practices comparable to sending minors to purchase alcohol for us or capitulating to requests to purchase these younger folks alcohol.
It just isn’t the primary time we now have been confronted with tragic occasions comparable to what occurred in Scenery Park final week.
A standard denominator between Enyobeni tavern, the Throb nightclub catastrophe in Durban in 2000, and the Osi’s tavern tragedy in Khayelitsha in 2015, is that these institutions have been promoting liquor to minors.
The proliferation of institutions brazenly flouting the legislation factors to failings on the half of authorities to implement rules.
Curbing underage drinking
Under the National Liquor Act, house owners of institutions with liquor licenses could not promote alcohol to anybody below the age of 18.
They should additionally take affordable steps to make sure anybody they’re promoting alcohol to is of age.
We name on communities to work with authorities to make sure that taverns, shebeens, leisure venues and shops breaking the legislation face the results.
We name upon our police to step up the enforcement of legal guidelines that prohibit the sale of alcohol shut to varsities and improve monitoring of shops to make sure alcohol just isn’t being offered to minors.
Another actuality is that alcohol is a kind of escapism for younger folks in communities have been alternatives for secure and age-appropriate recreation are few.
ALSO READ: Enyobeni: Police dismiss experiences on trigger of teenagers’ deaths
Moving on from Enyobeni tragedy
The Scenery Park group has pointed to the shortage of sports activities, studying and different developmental services for younger folks, main them to resort to ‘tavern hopping’.
In the wake of the tragedy, the group has identified that there are not any viable sports activities grounds, group libraries or youth centres in Scenery Park.
As authorities at nationwide, provincial and native ranges we need to answer the pleas of this group and people of different communities by growing extra leisure areas, services, programmes, and initiatives for our younger folks in deprived areas in the province.
Other social companions such because the enterprise group must also help with sponsorship.
As communities, we should work with our Community Policing Forums, with our civics organizations and with our faculty governing our bodies and play a extra lively function in the lives of our youngsters and in guaranteeing their security and well-being.
As they are saying in our African indigenous classics “it takes a community to raise a child”.
Let us work collectively to guard our valuable future technology from the ravages of alcohol and drug abuse and their results.
Let us work collectively to make sure that those that put revenue earlier than the lives of our youngsters should not allowed to function.
Let us additionally set a constructive instance in our personal relationship with alcohol.
Let us be keepers of not simply our personal youngsters, however our neighbours’ youngsters as effectively.
With finest regards,
Cyril Ramaphosa.
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