Western Cape premier Helen Zille has become the first South African to sign her name to an international campaign to combat drunk driving."We are very much hoping... that drinking and driving becomes as much of a taboo in South Africa as it is in many other countries in the world," she said.
The campaign, called Join the Pact, is run internationally by whisky maker Johnnie Walker, and was launched locally by the brand's local distributor Brandhouse Beverages.
Zille said at the Cape Town ceremony Tuesday that everyone should get into the "wonderful habit" of ensuring that if they went out and had a few drinks, there was a designated non-drinking driver to fall back on.
She joked that the way to avoid the hassle of deciding who was going to be the designated driver was to get elected into public office and get appointed as a premier or Cabinet minister."Then you have a driver who's a permanent designated driver and who's never allowed to drink so that you can have a few, and sit in the back, and feel good about life."
Brandhouse managing director Gerald Mahinda said South Africans needed to remind themselves of the tragic consequences of people who chose to drink and drive.
"If you choose to drink, make a plan so you don't have to drive," he said.
"We need to be the change that we want to see, and to take responsibility for our actions."
Taking responsibility for their actions is not something the alcohol industry is very good at. How come there are 30000 shebeens in the Western Cape? The alcohol industry supports these illegal operations and has in fact been setting them up. What about letting inebriated patrons leave the alcohol industry's licenced premises when it is obvious that they are about to drive home? Is that called taking responsibility?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment