![]() ![]() UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken). And lawmakers have drafted a bill making it illegal to have even a single drink before driving. There is talk of raising the drinking age to 21, of banning advertising. PERALTA: Parliament has begun talking about whether changes are needed in South Africa's liberal booze policy. And we are now in a state of acknowledging that this is a problem. MUZZAMMIL ISMAIL: It sort of removed the Band-Aid. It was a reality check for South Africans. On New Year's Eve, a day notorious for its carnage, emergency rooms were completely empty. Muzzammil Ismail, who also works at the health department, says the ban saved lives. And more beds open up for COVID-19 patients. MOODLEY: And the system just decompresses. There were fewer people at the ER, fewer ICU admissions. PERALTA: That trickled down to every aspect of the health system. But more specifically, we saw a dramatic drop in trauma-related hospitalizations. MOODLEY: We saw a dramatic drop in hospitalizations. But things changed when South Africa banned alcohol. Every weekend, he says, emergency rooms fill up with drunk people who have gotten into fights and ended up stabbed or shot. Melvin Moodley, who works for the Cape Town Health Department. And that's the reality of working in a busy emergency unit in South Africa. MELVIN MOODLEY: Late on a Saturday evening, you could smell a combination of the blood and the alcohol. Doctors know alcohol and violence are intimately related. South Africans could possibly have a discipline problem. GOLIATH: I won't say South Africans have a drinking problem. He saw the news about how the alcohol ban cleared emergency rooms. He legalized it and built this mega sports bar that employs dozens of people in a tough neighborhood. Eventually, Goliath took over the business. PERALTA: With the money they made at the bar, his parents could afford to send Goliath and his siblings to school. We were to clean up behind people, pick up glasses, mop the floors, things like that. GOLIATH: We were working from an early age. As a kid, Goliath remembers patrons drinking in his living room at all hours. Yet, in an act of rebellion, many turned their homes into shebeens, apartheid-era speakeasies. Black people weren't allowed to drink or sell alcohol. At the time, people of color were kept out of most businesses. PERALTA: His bar is in Mitchells Plain, a township created by the apartheid government for colored people. We're going to have to put it up for sale or something because things are not good. WILLIAM GOLIATH: Now, to be honest, there was moments that we thought one of the businesses is going to have to go. William Goliath (ph), who owns this bar and the liquor store next door, says the ban nearly killed his business. And South Africans are some of the most ardent alcohol consumers on the continent. The Western Cape produces some of the finest wine in the world. But this is a country with a huge alcohol industry that employs almost 300,000 people. Plus, sober South Africans were less likely to violently protest a complete lockdown. They were trying to keep people from gathering. PERALTA: The South African government banned alcohol just as the world locked down last year. We use the booze as something - as a material that can entertain us. Tobella says it felt like collective punishment, even against people like him who just wanted a drink after a long overnight shift. PERALTA: The bans were not popular with many South Africans. We are now starting to enjoy this new life. WELLINGTON TOBELLA: That is why now we are all together. Wellington Tobella (ph) was drinking a pitcher of beer with his friends. At noon on a weekday, there are already a dozen people at the premium sports bar here in Cape Town. So last month, as South Africa lifted the ban, people flooded into bars. NPR's Eyder Peralta peels back the layers of a story that tells you a lot about South Africa's history.ĮYDER PERALTA, BYLINE: The alcohol bans in South Africa have been draconian. But there was a side effect to the side effect, a serious drop in some people's business. ![]() Emergency rooms suddenly became a lot less busy with alcohol-related injuries. Prohibition was an effort to keep people from gathering and spreading coronavirus. South Africa reports an unexpected side effect from an effort to fight the pandemic. ![]()
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