14/01/2026
South Africa is spending billions on alcohol.
Read that again. Billions.
Not on healing. Not on mental health support. Not on rehab beds, aftercare, or families trying to survive addiction.
On alcohol.
We normalise it because it’s legal. We excuse it because it’s cultural. We defend it because everyone drinks.
Meanwhile:
Homes are breaking.
Children are growing up hyper-vigilant.
Trauma is being passed down like an inheritance.
Relapses are rising.
Violence spikes.
Emergency rooms stay full.
But hey, the tills are ringing.
Alcohol doesn’t just empty wallets.
It empties households, relationships, dignity, and futures.
And before anyone gets defensive, this isn’t about moral superiority. It’s about accountability.
We live in a country where addiction treatment is underfunded, mental health care is stretched thin,
and families are expected to cope quietly - while alcohol profits soar.
If you think this doesn’t affect you, you’re wrong.
You pay for it in taxes. You see it in schools. You feel it in communities. You watch it in families that slowly unravel.
We don’t have an alcohol problem. We have a denial problem.
Until we stop romanticising drinking
and start telling the truth about the cost,
the drain will keep running, and so will the damage.
Billions spent.
Lives lost.
And still we pretend this is normal.
