“DF-SA Elevates Illicit Alcohol as a 2026 Priority at the EMEA Security Conference”
Pondoland Times reports:
“The Drinks Federation of South Africa (DF-SA) has confirmed its role as a collaborative industry partner at the 2026 EMEA Security Conference, taking place in Cape Town from 25–26 March 2026.
“Held under the theme ‘Safeguarding Africa’s Future: Strengthening Regional Collaboration Against Illicit Trade,’ the conference will convene enforcement authorities, customs leaders, policymakers, and organised businesses from across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
“DF-SA CEO Angela Russell says ‘participation in the conference reflects the need to position illicit alcohol within a broader enforcement and security framework.’
“‘Independent research shows that illicit alcohol accounts for 18% of total market volume, with an estimated R16.5 billion in annual fiscal losses. The recent budget speech reaffirmed the importance of CPI-linked excise adjustments, which support predictability and help limit unintended price distortions in the legal market,’ says Dr Shamal Ramesar, DF-SA Head of Research.
“Sola Oke, DF-SA deputy chairperson and managing director of Pernod Ricard Africa, will address the economic and governance implications of illicit trade. ‘Illicit alcohol undermines responsible trade and weakens economic resilience,’ says Oke.
“The beer, wine, and spirits sectors have established a Responsible Trade Task Force, which will be housed under DF-SA as a central coordination platform.”
Other Articles on Same Topic
- Drinks Federation of SA joins forces to combat illicit alcohol at 2026 EMEA Security Conference (wine.co.za / Bizcommunity)
Assessment
The Drinks Federation of South Africa (DF-SA) appearance at the EMEA Security Conference marks an escalation in the alcohol industry’s deployment of the illicit trade narrative in South Africa. By placing illicit alcohol on the agenda of an international security conference – themed around “Safeguarding Africa’s Future” – the industry is reframing what is a commercial and regulatory issue as a matter of national security. At a time when security concerns are prominent in public discourse, this is designed to elevate the alcohol industry’s preferred framing and give it institutional credibility.
DF-SA has used this approach before. The industry body – whose founding members include alcohol industry giants AB InBev, Diageo, Heineken, and Pernod Ricard – has been deploying the illicit trade narrative systematically to oppose any meaningful alcohol tax increases. The campaign intensified in the months leading up to the February 2026 budget, and it delivered results: South Africa’s 2026 budget only contained alcohol tax increases of just 3.4% – exactly what the industry had lobbied for. The alcohol industry lobbyist referencing “CPI-linked excise adjustments” is industry code for keeping tax increases at or below inflation – the minimum possible – rather than using alcohol taxation as a tool to prevent and reduce alcohol harm.
The data cited by DF-SA should be treated with caution. The claim that illicit alcohol accounts for 18% of market volume comes from a 2025 Euromonitor study commissioned by the industry itself. Independent research has consistently shown that illicit trade arguments are overblown and that illicit markets are shaped primarily by enforcement capacity and regulatory coherence – not by tax levels. The industry’s own deputy chairperson at the conference is the managing director of Pernod Ricard Africa, a company that spent $2.8 million on lobbying in the US alone in 2022.
The announcement of a “Responsible Trade Task Force” (RTTF) housed under DF-SA follows the industry’s well-documented playbook of creating front groups to pre-empt regulation. Like Aware.org’s “Freedom to Choose Responsibly” campaign and DF-SA’s own “Small Print, Big Impact” initiative, the RTTF provides AB InBev, Diageo, Heineken, and Pernod Ricard with a vehicle to appear “responsible” while actively working to ensure that alcohol policy in South Africa remains as ineffective and piecemeal as possible.
The securitisation of the illicit trade narrative is a concerning development. Public health-oriented alcohol taxation, combined with effective enforcement and regulatory capacity, is the proven approach to both preventing alcohol harm while reducing illicit trade. If the industry succeeds in reframing the debate as “security” versus “taxation,” it obscures this reality – and serves the interests of the multinational alcohol corporations that profit from keeping alcohol as affordable and available as possible.
The DF-SA’s security framing also inverts the actual evidentiary record on alcohol and national security. Movendi International’s analysis documents that the harm caused by alcohol companies impedes progress on 15 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals – spanning health system capacity, educational outcomes, workforce productivity, gender-based violence, and institutional resilience. These are precisely the indicators that security analysts use to assess state fragility and long-term development trajectories. In South Africa specifically, costs due to alcohol harm are estimated at 10–12% of GDP. That is a structural drag on the economy that compounds inequality and undermines human capital formation across generations. By this measure, the commercial interests represented by DF-SA – AB InBev, Diageo, Heineken, and Pernod Ricard – are themselves a source of systemic risk to the social and economic foundations that genuine security depends on.
A framework that positions these actors as partners in “safeguarding Africa’s future” while resisting the alcohol policy measures proven to prevent harm, reduce costs, and protect human capital is not a security strategy. It is a reframing exercise that serves commercial interests at the expense of public ones.