The government’s proposed ban on the advertising of alcoholic beverages could result in the loss of 11 954 jobs, according to research published by Econometrix yesterday.
Broadcasting and agriculture were likely to be secondary casualties in addition to the advertising industry, which could lose an estimated R4.4 billion should a total ban be imposed, it said.
The Department of Health has gazetted draft legislation for a comprehensive ban.
The liquor industry supported more than 548 000 jobs throughout the economy and for every R1 in sales that were generated by the industry, R2.08 was added to the country’s gross domestic product, Rob Jeffrey, a senior economist at Econometrix, said.
In addition, Jeffrey noted that 26 percent of all alcohol consumed in the country was unrecorded and sold outside formal channels.
“There is no doubt that the minister must apply his mind to the subject. He is correct but we need to work together. An advertising ban would impact on the legally branded sector,” Jeffrey said.
The research, funded by the Industry Association for Responsible Alcohol Use, showed that there was no statistical relationship between advertising expenditure and the consumption of alcohol in the country, Econometrix found.
Cobus Venter, a senior associate at Econex, said the most efficient deterrent to alcohol abuse and drunk driving was better enforcement. “It’s significantly more effective to have roadblocks and [mobile] courts in place,” he said.
He said international experience and research had proved that law-abiding people did not abuse alcohol. A ban on alcohol advertising typically had a negligible impact, he added.
For each job offered by the industry and its direct suppliers, 6.3 additional jobs were supported in the rest of the informal and formal economy.
The industry spanned the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy, including agriculture, manufacturing, marketing, distribution and retail. Many sporting disciplines, including rugby, soccer and cricket, would suffer from a total ban that included sponsorship of teams and competitions.
“There will be an impact not simply on the sports bodies themselves, but on sportsmen and women, on sport development, on stadium owners, and on the general public who might not be able to view sports on television as television stations would not be able to raise the sponsorship required,” the authors of the study added.
A ban would cut annual tax income by R1.783 million. Exports would decrease by R225m and imports by R304m.
A literature review of key international studies by Econometrix had also found inconclusive evidence that alcohol advertising increased alcohol consumption.
The liquor industry has made efforts to stem alcohol abuse. In 2009 South African Breweries (SAB) and the Johannesburg metro police launched an Alcohol Evidence Centre in central Johannesburg to collect high-quality evidence for use in the prosecution of people arrested for driving under the influence.
Benedict Maaga, SAB’s media relations manager, said that, to date, 15 such centres at a cost of R1m each had been built countrywide. The quality of evidence for prosecuting had improved and arrests had declined, Maaga said.
“The Western Cape government ascribed a 12 percent decline in road death fatalities to the success of the Alcohol Evidence Centres in that province, while a Markinor study in early 2011 showed that 27 percent of the population was aware of the Alcohol Evidence Centres built by SAB and 51 percent of these people had changed their behaviour as a result,” Maaga said.