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The government might change the minimum legal age of alcohol consumption, according to the president.

The government on Tuesday reaffirmed its determination to curb the scourge of drug and alcohol abuse.

Confirming that they were not only looking at changing the minimum legal age of alcohol consumption, President Jacob Zuma said they were also looking at changing the hours and days on which it could be sold, restricting the number of liquor outlets and imposing restrictions on the advertising of alcohol.

Taxes on alcohol may also be further increased, and taverns closed in residential areas, he told the Second Biannual Anti-substance Abuse Summit at Durban’s International Convention Centre.

The Department of Trade and Industry was looking into measures to reduce the availability of alcohol, restricting the number of liquor licences issued, deciding whether health warnings on bottles were visible and prominent enough, and looking at liability provisions which would allow for class actions to be taken by affected parties against participants in the industry.

“It is important that we start exploring things like putting responsibility on the last person to serve a drink to someone who is already drunk,” DTI deputy director-general Zodwa Ntuli said.

National police commissioner Bheki Cele responded to Zuma’s appeal for the police to be strict with alcohol and drug abuse by taking to the stage and pledging that the SAPS had put in place annual targets, including the closure of illegal taverns and those that broke the law by allowing minors in.

“We will shut them down. No negotiations. For those who complain that there are too many police investigating these taverns let me tell you: we haven’t even started yet.” Cele said the SAPS also supported the call for the increasing of the legal age for the purchase of alcohol from 18 to 21.

Zuma said alcohol, followed by dagga, was the most widely abused substance, and that it was alarming to note that the age of first experience of such substances had dropped from teenagers to children aged nine and 10.

The government wanted to deal with the problems before it was too late and before the surge lead to the “destruction of our nation”.

“If you visit Umlazi, KwaMashu or Soweto, do you notice that the number of boards that advertise alcohol are more than that when in Houghton or Durban North? That picture must change.”

Ntuli said: “Alcohol advertisers often say their advertising does not increase alcohol consumption. Well I beg to differ. Adverts are so prominent, have catchy phrases and appear to be sexy.”

Cele said: “We believe and it has been proved that alcohol causes a lot of crime, not just crime, but very violent crime.

“We raided one shebeen in the Durban South area some time back, just a few kilometres away from a school, and it also had a special bedroom to allow pupils to have sex before they go back to class.”

The South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (Sanca) welcomed the government’s plans. Durban director Carol du Toit said: “For me, the issue of alcohol and drug abuse needs to be attacked by various angles and there is no one fix we can use, so introducing various measures through careful thought and discussion will be welcomed.”

Popular club owner Max Mqadi said making the legal drinking age 21 would not deal with the problem of irresponsible drinking: “If an 18 year old can drive, get married and have children why can’t they drink alcohol?”

Mqadi, who owns Max’s Lifestyle Club in Umlazi, frequented regularly by high-profile individuals and celebrities, said raising the legal age would destroy businesses. - The Mercury