Do South Africans drink more than anyone else on the continent? Africa Check investigated Health Minister Zweli Mkhize’s claims about local alcohol consumption.

• Health Minister Zweli Mkhize was correct that a significant majority in
  the country doesn’t drink.
• He was also right that South Africans who do drink are among the top
  drinkers in the world.
• But South African drinkers don’t consume more per person on average than
  anywhere else in Africa – on this score, Tunisia, Eswatini and Namibia are
  ahead.

South Africa’s Covid-19 lockdown has included a number of restrictions
on the sale of alcohol. The on-and-off ban on alcohol sales 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 in Africa. He also claimed that
they are among the top drinkers in the world.
Africa Check contacted the minister’s office for the source of his
information and has yet to receive a response.
Do the latest statistics support his claims? We checked.
Many online were skeptical of 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
Organisation, or WHO. It produces global alcohol and health status reports that
provide information on alcohol consumption across the world for people aged 15
and older.
The latest report showed
that 69% of South Africans over the age of 15 did not drink alcohol in 2016.
This group was made up of 53.5% of people who had never drunk alcohol and 15.5%
who used to drink but had stopped.
The WHO collects alcohol consumption
figures from national governments and alcohol industry statistics.
South Africa’s data was taken from South African Wine Industry
Information and Systems, which measures the consumption of wine,
spirits, beer and ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages.
The minister was correct – research shows that only 31% of South
Africans drink alcohol.
SA has high levels of binge drinking
The South African Medical Research Council’s (SAMRC)
Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug
Research Unit focuses on the extent and consequences of alcohol,
tobacco and other drug use in South Africa.
The unit’s director, Professor Charles Parry, and consultant, Professor
Neo Morojele, have both previously stressed that
most South African drinkers don’t use alcohol in moderation.
“Moderate drinking, however you define it, is relatively rare in
South Africa,” Morojele told Africa Check.
The country has high levels of binge drinking. Of those who do drink,
59% of them engage in “heavy episodic drinking”.
The WHO defines this as consumption of “60 or more grams of pure
alcohol on at least one occasion at least once per month”. This is the
equivalent of drinking four 340 millilitres bottles of beer or 600 millilitres
of white wine in one sitting.
In 2016, South Africa ranked 23rd out of 195 countries for heavy episodic
drinking among those who drink.
South African drinkers over the age of 15 consumed
on average 29.9 litres of pure alcohol each in 2016. The figure was
37.5 litres for men and 13.7 litres for women.
Three African countries drink more than SA
But three other African countries had higher levels of consumption among
drinkers. Tunisia (36.6 litres), Eswatini (34.4 litres)
and Namibia (32.4 litres)
were above South Africa in the ranking.
Alcohol consumption figures can also be considered in relation to a
whole population, including non-drinkers. This is referred to as “per
capita”.
On this measure, South Africa ranked 9th out of 53 African countries,
with 9.3 litres of pure alcohol per person in 2016. Nigeria took the top spot
with 13.4 litres of pure alcohol per person.
In support of this claim, Mkhize said that drinkers consumed on average
64.6 grams of pure alcohol per day. This was in comparison to the global
average of 32.8 grams per drinker per day.
WHO data shows that South African drinkers over
the age of 15 consumed 29.9 litres of pure alcohol each in 2016. This works out
to 0.08 litres of pure alcohol a day, or 64.6 grams.
The global average was 15.1
litres in 2016. This is 0.04 litres of pure alcohol a day, or 32.8 grams.
Based on 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
organisation. View the original piece on its website.