In its endeavours to mitigate negative effects of alcohol abuse by youth, Eastern Cape Liquor Board will coordinate a sports tournament among schools from the Duncan Village area, including a high school located in Cambridge Location. These are schools which ECLB has identified and adopted for more intensive education and awareness campaigns on the dangers of under-age drinking.

Eastern Cape Liquor Board seeks to utilise this programme – in collaboration with other stakeholders such as SAPS, Department of Education and Municipality – as a platform to convey anti-alcohol abuse messages to learners that go to the identified schools. Members of the community will be mobilised to attend the programme so they can receive messages on dangers inherent in abusing alcohol and further educate them about responsible drinking. Anecdotes suggest that some learners mimic the untoward behaviours which they experience in their families and community; it is therefore only logical that awareness must also target parents so they can start advocating anti-alcohol abuse messages to their children and refrain from using liquor in full view of their children.

Both Duncan Village and Cambridge Location are notorious for high prevalence of alcohol consumption, which is often attributed to high rate of unemployment and the proliferation of illegal taverns. Invariably, some of the learners who attend these schools come from families that are hard-hit by the scourge of poverty and blatant abuse of alcohol and drugs. Schools report the mounting cases of learners who indulge in alcohol and attend school intoxicated.

It is against this backdrop that ECLB has taken a conscious decision to extend its education campaigns to such schools so that learners are rigorously educated about consequences of indulging in alcohol at an early age.

The tournament is scheduled to take place as follows
• Date: 2nd August, 2013
• Venue: Duncan Village Municipality Sports Grounds.
• Time: 09h00 – 16h00

Six schools will be competing in three sporting codes, such as soccer, rugby and netball. Winning teams will receive trophies. The event will be underpinned by a coherent transmission of messages on consequences of under-age and irresponsible drinking. The last session of the day will be the awarding of trophies to winning teams; and similarly during this session anti-alcohol abuse messages will be reinforced to both the youth and members of community.

This programme is part of the broader awareness and education campaigns wherein ECLB has adopted schools from different district municipalities so as to amplify its fight against the scourge of under-age drinking. It is hoped that through this intervention high levels of alcohol consumption among youths will be reduced considerably. More importantly sport has an immense potential to keep the youths away from temptations of alcohol consumption.

Prepared by Social Accountability: Eastern Cape Liquor Board

For further enquiries, please contact Mr. Mgwebi Msiya @ Mgwebi.msiya@eclb.co.za/ 060 501 6418 OR 082 440 5097