The Bayview Ubuntu Community Centre in Chatsworth, south of Durban, is concerned about local tuck shops selling sachets of alcohol to children under the age of 18.
Chairperson Brandon Pillay says there is a growing trend of alcohol in sachets being peddled to young people at a reduced cost.
Advocacy groups say 19.9% of learners claim to have consumed alcohol by the age of 13.
Pillay says community members need to start reporting local vendors who sell alcohol to children.
“There’s a new thing called sachets, which is a new thing where alcohol is sold in sachets from every other tuck-shop. So it’s not even a tavern or a shebeen anymore, it’s an ordinary tuck shop that sells your bread and milk and it’s become a craze with not just young people but with everyone because of the affordability of it.”
“This is something we have seen over the years, even with drugs that are recreational. You tend to want to experiment with things that are cheaper until you get to things that are more expensive. But now you are finding the opposite. Because they are so cheap they are accessible,” adds Pillay.
PODCAST | Bayview Ubuntu Community Centre’s Brandon Pillay on Lotus FM:
