SOUTH AFRICA RANKED NUMBER 5 IN TERMS OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION!#Abuse #Entertainment

By Teboho Sekhosana

 SOUTH AFRICA RANKED NUMBER 5 IN TERMS OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION!


This week I came across on X formerly Twitter a post reporting that South Africa is ranked number five in the world in terms of alcohol consumption. Now it is not my intention to get into a debate about the credibility or lackof of this poll,however,any honest South African will not deny that in South Africa we have an alcohol abuse problem. It also so just happen that coincides with the painful passing of our beloved music icon Zahara whom her struggles or relationship with alcohol is well documented and I think most of us know the health dangers posed by alcohol.It should not come as a shock that as South Africa we are ranked that high in the world in terms of alcohol consumption,I'm saying it should not come as a shock because we witness on daily basis how people abuse alcohol,even miners.It was not long ago when 21 children lost their lives in what has become to be known as the Enyobeni Tarven Tragedy where miners we indulging in alcohol. If anything that was the sign that as a country we do have a serious alcohol abuse problem.

Now it is easy to just label people as drunkards and irresponsible without attempting to an analyse and dissect the main source and driver of this kind of behavior. Those of us who are students of Marxism know that Alcohol,just like Religion is an Opium of the masses,meaning is it is a source and response of the suffering. Majority of those who engage in the consumption of alcohol do so a away to numb or forget the suffering they are going through, the suffering caused by the socio-economic status they find themselves in. In as much as some of them may not want to admit to this,however, it is the reality. They mask this under the guise of "entertainment",I mean why can't they entertain themselves with Juice,why should you get drunk as a way of entertaining yourself?. 

Many road accidents,killings and abuse occur are a direct result of people having engaged in alcohol consumption,I dare anyone to challenge on this one. 

The health risks and dangers associated with alcohol are well known such as damage to the liver,now why would anyone claim to be taking alcohol to entertain themselves whilst in the process damaging their own health.

Having stated the above,it then becomes clear that alcohol abuse is a societal problem linked directly to the socio-economic status of the majority of the population. If we are serious about curbing the alcohol abuse then we should start by addressing the socio-economic conditions of the majority. Any attempt to address the Alcohol Abuse problem without addressing the socio-economic conditions of the majority is just an academic exercise,an exercise in futility!.

By

Teboho Sekhosana

Social and Political Activist.

My name is Teboho Sekhosana I'm an ex Numsa Shopsteward trained in Grievance and Case Handling. Political activists who has had a privilege to spend time in South America(Venezuela)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

STOP WEAPONIZING RAPE!!!.

By Teboho Sekhosana
Image
 STOP  WEAPONIZING RAPE Rape carries a very serious stigma and reputational damage(correctly so). So whenever a person is accused of rape it should not be taken lightly. South Africa is one of the countries confronted with scary high number of rape and sexual assaults cases. For years I am one of the people who have been writing consistently against the the worrying trend of women falsely accusing men of rape. This has been case especially in the political space. This morning Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi was trending on X(formerly Twitter) and when I checked the reason for him trending that is when I came across a post from Daily Sun. The Daily Sun publication was issuing an apology to Dr Ndlozi . I will quote the apology by the Daily Sun "The Daily Sun herewith retracts all defamatory statements made and published by it on 11 to 12 April 2021 on its online website,and Twitter and Facebook accounts,in respect of the rape accusation against Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi,MP. The daily Sun
Read more

WHAT HAS BECOME OF THE TSHIAME SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE(SEZ)?

By Teboho Sekhosana
Image
 WHAT HAS BECOME OF THE TSHIAME SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE(SEZ)?. Tshiame in Harrismith under the Maluti A Phofung Local Municipality in the Free State province is one of the areas which have been earmarked to benefit by having the Special Economic Zone.The Special Economic Zones within South Africa are geographically designated areas set aside for specifically targeted economic activities to promote national economic growth and exports by using support measures to attract foreign and domestic investments and technology . SEZ is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country.One of the major advantages of Special Economic Zones is that there is a clause of total exemption of the income tax on the income incurred via export through these SEZs. The Tshiame Special Economic Zone which has now been branded the Maluti a Phofung Special Economic Zone has been on the pipeline for decades as far as my memory can serve me. It is a project which in
Read more

THE COMMUNITY OF GREATER TSHIAME FACES A BLEAK FUTURE UNDER THE MALUTI A PHOFUNG LOCAL MUNICIPALITY!

By Teboho Sekhosana
Image
 THE COMMUNITY OF GREATER TSHIAME FACES A BLEAK FUTURE UNDER THE MALUTI A PHOFUNG LOCAL MUNICIPALITY!. In my adult life I have not known any community which has had more misfortunes than the community of Greater Tshiame when it comes to the electricity and water provision. In the time just under a decade we have had close to five incidents of total power outage with the first major incident occurring in December of 2014 and the power was only restored in January of 2015. The second incident occurred in October of 2015 with the power only being restored in December of 2015. The third incident occurred in December of 2021, the power was only restored in January 2022. The fourth incident took place in February of 2023 with power only restored after three weeks. In all of the above mentioned incidents the community had to hit the streets in a protest before power was restored. It has somehow become a ritual of some sort that during or just before the festive season the communit
Read more