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Chris Lotze (left) and Johan Mostert (right) smoking and drinking at the Springbok bar in Hatfield.
Gallo Images / Alet Pretorius
- Health Minister Zweli Mkhize was right that a significant majority in the country does not drink.
- He was also right that South Africans who drink are among the world’s top drinkers.
- But South African drinkers don’t consume more per person on average than elsewhere in Africa; In this respect, Tunisia, Eswatini and Namibia are ahead.
The Covid-19 lockdown in South Africa has included a series of restrictions on the sale of alcohol. The intermittent ban on the sale of alcohol has sparked much debate and criticism.
In a guest column on News24, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize made three claims about the country’s alcohol consumption.
He said that although only 31% of the population drinks alcohol, South Africans drink more per person than anywhere else in Africa. He also claimed that they are among the world’s top drinkers.
Africa Check contacted the minister’s office to obtain the source of their information and has yet to receive a response.
Do the latest statistics support your claims? We check it.
Many online were skeptical from the health minister’s statement, saying the statistic was inaccurate, too low, and a joke.
The most recent data on this topic comes from the World Health Organization or WHO. Produces global alcohol and health reports that provide information on alcohol use around the world for people 15 years of age and older.
The latest report showed that 69% of South Africans over 15 years of age did not drink alcohol in 2016. This group consisted of 53.5% of people who had never drunk alcohol and 15.5% who used to drink but had left.
WHO collects alcohol consumption figures from national governments and statistics from the alcohol industry. Data for South Africa were taken from South African Wine Industry Information and Systems, which measures consumption of wine, spirits, beer, and ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages.
The minister was right: Research shows that only 31% of South Africans drink alcohol.
SA has high levels of binge drinking
The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Research Unit focuses on the extent and consequences of alcohol, tobacco and other drug use in South Africa.
The head of the unit, Professor Charles Parry, and the consultant, Professor Neo Morojele, have previously stressed that the majority of South African drinkers do not consume alcohol in moderation.
“Drinking in moderation, as defined, is relatively rare in South Africa,” Morojele told Africa Check.
The country has high levels of excessive alcohol consumption. Of those who drink, 59% of them participate in “episodes of binge drinking.”
The WHO defines this as the consumption of “60 or more grams of pure alcohol on at least one occasion at least once a month.” This is equivalent to drinking four 340-milliliter bottles of beer or 600 milliliters of white wine in one sitting.
In 2016, South Africa ranked 23rd out of 195 countries for binge drinking among drinkers.
South African drinkers over 15 years of age consumed an average of 29.9 liters of pure alcohol each in 2016. The figure was 37.5 liters for men and 13.7 liters for women.
Three African countries drink more than South Africa
But three other African countries had higher levels of consumption among drinkers. Tunisia (36.6 liters), Eswatini (34.4 liters) and Namibia (32.4 liters) were above South Africa in the ranking.
Alcohol consumption figures can also be considered in relation to the entire population, including non-drinkers. This is known as “per capita”.
On this measure, South Africa ranked 9th out of 53 African countries, with 9.3 liters of pure alcohol per person in 2016. Nigeria ranked first with 13.4 liters of pure alcohol per person.
In support of this claim, Mkhize said that drinkers consumed an average of 64.6 grams of pure alcohol per day. This was compared to the world average of 32.8 grams per drinker per day.
WHO data shows that South African drinkers over the age of 15 consumed 29.9 liters of pure alcohol each in 2016. This equates to 0.08 liters of pure alcohol per day, or 64.6 grams.
The world average was 15.1 liters in 2016. This is 0.04 liters of pure alcohol per day, or 32.8 grams.
According to these figures, South Africa ranked sixth out of 189 countries for alcohol consumption among drinkers.
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This report was written by Africa Check, a non-partisan fact-checking organization. See the original part on their website.
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