Cape Town named drinking capital of SA

With more than 50 percent of its people consuming alcohol and a third of this group abusing it, Cape Town has been dubbed the “drinking capital” of South Africa, it was revealed on Thursday.

The statistics came from a study carried out earlier this year by the Department of Health.

The problem was prevalent not only among adults, but also among high school children, according to the study. Alcohol abuse among schoolchildren was a much bigger problem than drugs, the study found.

About 66 percent of pupils in the Western Cape province in Grades eight to 10 drank alcohol. Of them, a quarter admitted to binge drinking two weeks before the study took place, according to the study.

“It was fascinating to note that only two percent of the pupils who participated admitted to using tik (drug),” Corrigall said. The study blamed violence, mental health problems and HIV/AIDS for driving more than half of Cape Town’s population to drink.

On the other way round, “alcohol consumption generally leads to violence, which can be stressful, as well as people turning to alcohol when they are stressed,” said Joanne Corrigall, senior public specialist with the department.


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