The government wants to ban people under 21 from drinking alcohol. The current legal drinking age is 18.The Department of Trade and Industry (DTi) published the National Liquor Policy for comment in the Government Gazette last week.

Under the proposed new policy, the legal drinking age would be raised from 18 to 21 years. Some parents might have their biggest dream come true one of these days when the government gets underway to implement this new law.

According to a statement from Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry, South Africa has the highest percentage of alcohol intake (10-12 percent) compared to a world average of 6 percent. Davies states that many injuries are associated with alcohol consumption and that the government spends about R3.7 billion on problems stemming from alcohol abuse.

The proposals in the bill is done by looking at other countries where it has been proven that negative incidents related to alcohol is far less where the age restriction for using alcohol is higher. The bill on alcoholic beverages was approved by the Cabinet last week.

It will also prevent billboards advertising alcohol to be erected near transportation facilities such as train stations.