South African National Council on Alcoholism (Sanca) has partnered with the I love Alex project to launch the Responsible Beverage Services program to reduce the risks associated with the sale of alcohol by licensed liquor traders in the township.
The program aims to be a key influencer in preventing the sale of alcohol to minors, reduction of excessive alcohol consumption, and addressing other alcohol-related harms at the community level.
Sanca and program project manager Vuyelwa Clara Monnakgotla told Alex News they would recruit owners of licensed liquor outlets and establishments and introduce them to the program which is funded by the Anheuser-Busch InBev foundation.
“Already 80 licensed outlets were identified and 60 of them will be recruited to attend the upcoming training workshops. We are going to be training master trainers and we expect the project to be sustainable,” said Monnakgotla.
“For us to really see the impact, we need to learn to work together to leverage our limited resources in terms of budgets, insights, and expertise. “This is a huge social issue that we cannot solve by only pointing fingers.”
Currently, the I Love Alex project is implementing a number of programs within the community, including the expansion and upgrade of the Alcohol Evidence Centre at Marlboro Testing Centre.
