WEBVTT - 18% of alcohol illicit

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<v Speaker 1>Now a story by Nick Wilson, journalist at News twenty

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<v Speaker 1>four really caught my eye. It's based on comments made

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<v Speaker 1>by the Drinks Federation of South Africa and they estimate

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<v Speaker 1>that almost one in five drinks consumed in South Africa

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<v Speaker 1>we're talking about alcoholic drinks now contains illicit alcohol and

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<v Speaker 1>that may in turn include deadly additions such as methanol

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<v Speaker 1>and even industrial ethanol. So what's going on here? Where

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<v Speaker 1>is this coming from? How's it finding its way into

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<v Speaker 1>the South African market. Let's welcome to the show then,

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<v Speaker 1>doctor Shamal Ramasa, who is head of research at the

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<v Speaker 1>Drinks Federation of South Africa. Doctor Ramasa, welcome and thanks

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<v Speaker 1>very much for your time. Is this a problem we

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<v Speaker 1>can connect, for example, to the restrictions imposed during the

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<v Speaker 1>COVID era on alcohol or has this been going on

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<v Speaker 1>for much longer affinuon.

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<v Speaker 2>So yes, we find that, you know, listed alcohol has

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<v Speaker 2>been in the country for longer than COVID. But it

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<v Speaker 2>seems that COVID has exacerbated the problem itself because it

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<v Speaker 2>proved that there was a lucrative market for this type

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<v Speaker 2>of alcohol in South Africa. So yes, we can't say

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<v Speaker 2>that the lockdown and alcohol dan have exacclybated the infit

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<v Speaker 2>alcohol architecture in South Africa.

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<v Speaker 1>So, doctor Ramasa, is this alcohol that masquerades as, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>being something else? Would it have a label that says

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<v Speaker 1>either counterfeiting an existing whiskey brand for the sake of argument,

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<v Speaker 1>or invents another whiskey brand like Highland Fog or whatever.

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<v Speaker 1>I hope there isn't something called that, but you know

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<v Speaker 1>what I mean, trying to look authentic, or is this

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<v Speaker 1>stuff going in unlabeled bottles and perhaps being sold in

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<v Speaker 1>bulk in some form.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, it's a combination of all that you mentioned, So

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<v Speaker 2>I think it might be interesting to, you know, to

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<v Speaker 2>define your listed alcohol. The first is the one that

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<v Speaker 2>you did mention, and that's the counterfeit and illicit brands.

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<v Speaker 2>And these are fraudulent imitations of legitimate brands. But it

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<v Speaker 2>could also then be uh, you know, unknown bottles or mummiking,

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<v Speaker 2>uh you know known brands where there's falsification and tampering

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<v Speaker 2>you know of the of the the bottles itself. So

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<v Speaker 2>so that's the first part. The second one that we

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<v Speaker 2>get is contraband or smuggling, and this is alcohol which

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<v Speaker 2>is original and it's legitimate, but it's being illegally important

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<v Speaker 2>or smuggled uh into the country itself and basically you know,

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<v Speaker 2>another example of this is round shipping, where it's uh

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<v Speaker 2>you know, alcohol taking cross borders so we pay no

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<v Speaker 2>duties on them, and then it's brought back into the

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<v Speaker 2>country and it escapes the tax system as well. Then

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<v Speaker 2>you get tax leakage. And this is really where uh

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<v Speaker 2>you know, there's misclassification of products. For example, you get

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<v Speaker 2>a sugar fermented ale versus a wine and because they

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<v Speaker 2>are class if I differently, the manufacturers themselves are paying

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<v Speaker 2>the incorrect taxes on them, so it's considered ulicit. And

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<v Speaker 2>the last one is something that we know, and that's

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<v Speaker 2>your traditional alcohol theres is which are made but unfortunately

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<v Speaker 2>sold right and they're sold then no taxes are paid

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<v Speaker 2>on them. So those those are the broad categories that

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<v Speaker 2>we define illicit alcohol under.

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<v Speaker 1>It's important that you've spelled out the range of things

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<v Speaker 1>going on because while you were talking Dr Ramas, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>trying to think what do we do about it? And

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<v Speaker 1>it would seem given the range of offences, there's all

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<v Speaker 1>sorts of players who need to be involved. Obviously there's

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<v Speaker 1>you as the industry looking to protect businesses that you've

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<v Speaker 1>built up over time and with huge investments of money.

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<v Speaker 1>But then there's obviously excise issues as well. Who's dealing

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<v Speaker 1>with this? Do we have a strategy that takes into

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<v Speaker 1>account the multiple manifestations of this broad problem.

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<v Speaker 2>That's a great question.

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<v Speaker 1>A think.

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<v Speaker 2>It's one of the outcomes of a panel discussion that

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<v Speaker 2>we held at Gibbs University yesterday where it was decided

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<v Speaker 2>that there needs to be a whole of society approach

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<v Speaker 2>towards tackling this problem. And the whole of society involves

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<v Speaker 2>the industry itself, but also government representatives from from sales,

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<v Speaker 2>from the department located industry from a law enforcement but

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<v Speaker 2>we also rely heavily, will rely heavily on the public

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<v Speaker 2>to report these matters so that we can you know,

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<v Speaker 2>get proper intelligence and do proper rates on the type

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<v Speaker 2>of illegal manufacturers. So, you know, it was decided yesterday

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<v Speaker 2>that the Drings Federation of South Africa, you know, should

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<v Speaker 2>coordinate this type of multi stakeholder project so that we

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<v Speaker 2>can get the best type of outcomes.

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<v Speaker 1>Is there is you know, for example, the illicit alcohol

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<v Speaker 1>in other words, not well known brands, for example, being smuggled,

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<v Speaker 1>but where stuff is being made some well, let me

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<v Speaker 1>ask the question differently, is a lot of the stuff

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<v Speaker 1>being made in South Africa? If it isn't and is

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<v Speaker 1>being imported, do we know which countries are the key suppliers.

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<v Speaker 2>So it's a combination of both. You would start to

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<v Speaker 2>see in the media recently there's quite a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>buss happening. In fact, there was one in Johannesburg, I

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<v Speaker 2>think on Monday where huge amounts of fake alcohol was

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<v Speaker 2>being produced. And then there are other similar operations that

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<v Speaker 2>we have seen been bussed inn in Free States and

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<v Speaker 2>so on. So South Africa does have its own production facilities,

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<v Speaker 2>but also because it's become such a lucrative market, there

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<v Speaker 2>are global companies for the want of better words, that

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<v Speaker 2>are producing these counterfeit brands and a maskl and because

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<v Speaker 2>of our poorest borders, unfortunately we're starting to see them,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, father into the country as well. So it's

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<v Speaker 2>a combination of both.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's talk about the ethanol. In the methanol, explain to

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<v Speaker 1>us what's being done there and share with us your

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<v Speaker 1>thoughts on some of the risks for people who might

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<v Speaker 1>and almost certainly unknowingly drink it.

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<v Speaker 2>Sure, so whenever the illegal manufacturers try to counterfort the product,

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<v Speaker 2>they try to increase the strength of their brew or

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<v Speaker 2>the you know, the alcohol itself, and they start adultraating

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<v Speaker 2>it with chemicals. So we run a chest a study

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<v Speaker 2>last year actually at the University of causing the LTEL,

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<v Speaker 2>and we tried to chemically analyze what's in these products.

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<v Speaker 2>And to your point, we find huge concentrations of methanol

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<v Speaker 2>or industry or grade ethanol. Now, these have deliterious effects

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<v Speaker 2>on human health. For example, methanol in itself causes irreversible

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<v Speaker 2>blindness if it's drunk in high concentration, it causes toxicity

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<v Speaker 2>of the blood, a condition we call metabolic acidosis, which

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<v Speaker 2>can lead to multiple organ failure and almost always you know,

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<v Speaker 2>a company by deer. In fact, from our study itself,

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<v Speaker 2>we showed the consumers actually told us that twenty nine

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<v Speaker 2>percent of them knew of somebody who have physically died

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<v Speaker 2>from consuming counterfeit alcohol you know, industrial get alcohol itself

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<v Speaker 2>also had these these effects on the body, including prospiratory distress,

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<v Speaker 2>cardiac failure, and so on. So these products are extremely

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<v Speaker 2>dangerous to consume, thank you.

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<v Speaker 1>Very much. That's those are the thoughts there of doctor

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<v Speaker 1>Shamil Ramasa, head of Research at the Drinks Federation of

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<v Speaker 1>South Africa. Illegal alcohol and its implications for health, for jobs,

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<v Speaker 1>for the collection of taxes and revenue. Is it something

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<v Speaker 1>you're aware of. I mean maybe in circles that you

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<v Speaker 1>move in, maybe people have approached you with what they

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<v Speaker 1>say a good deals on what might be premium brands.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know. It's not a space that I'm involved in,

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<v Speaker 1>except during COVID when there was a crackdown on alcohol.

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<v Speaker 1>I did keep getting WhatsApps offering me wine for sale

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<v Speaker 1>at extremely inflated prices. And the reason these people had

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<v Speaker 1>my number was I'd actually got some cats from them,

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<v Speaker 1>but they thought, well, may as well give him a try. Anyway,

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<v Speaker 1>that was a long, long, long time ago. Seven oh

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<v Speaker 1>two drive. It's four o'clock