A broad coalition of health, research, and traditional leadership organisations marched on Parliament in Cape Town on February 18, demanding above-inflation alcohol excise tax increases ahead of South Africa’s 2026 Budget, due on February 25.
The Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance South Africa (SAAPA-SA) organised the demonstration under its “True Cost of Alcohol” campaign, criticising that beer remains cheaper than bread in most South African communities – making easily affordable, particularly for young people.

“Alcohol costs less than bread: march to demand higher taxes on alcohol”

Agenzia Fides reports:

“‘The march is aimed at calling for an increase in alcohol taxes, because it is a proven measure to reduce harmful alcohol consumption, especially among children and young people,’ said Nomcebo Dlamini, head of SAAPA-SA. ‘Alcohol sold in South Africa, particularly beer, costs less than a loaf of bread in most of our communities, which is why it is so easily accessible.’

“According to the World Health Organization, 100 South Africans die every day from alcohol-related causes, or about 37,000 deaths per year. Alcohol is also one of the main factors contributing to violence, including domestic abuse and sexual assault, in a country where 36% of women experience physical or sexual violence during their lifetime.

“In addition to the social costs, there are also economic costs: while the alcohol industry flourishes, the economy as a whole absorbs the downstream costs of violence, trauma, fatal road accidents and stress on the healthcare system, with a total economic impact of around 800 billion rand (over 42 billion euros).”

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Assessment

The march on Parliament represents the most significant civil society mobilisation for alcohol taxation in South Africa’s current budget cycle. The coalition is notably broad – spanning public health, traditional governance, and other drug policy coordination alongside SAAPA – and its timing is strategic, just one week before Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivers the 2026 Budget on 25 February. 

SAAPA’s proposals land directly in the space created by President Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address, which for the first time named increased alcohol taxes and minimum unit pricing as proposed government policy tools. 

PwC’s pre-budget analysis, reported by The Citizen, predicts only inflationary excise increases on alcohol. The firm notes that while the National Treasury published a policy paper on the taxation of alcoholic beverages for public comment in November 2024, it does not expect the 2026 Budget to include fundamental changes to the alcohol excise framework while stakeholder consultations continue.

If this prediction holds, the budget would fall short of the above-inflation increases that both civil society and the evidence base support. The alcohol industry lobby group BASA – whose prominent members include multinational beer ginats AB InBev (SAB) and Heineken Beverages South Africa – has been lobbying to achieve exactly that outcome.

As University of Cape Town Professor Corné van Walbeek has noted, there is a strong disconnect between the alcohol industry’s claims about illicit trade and reality – Treasury’s own data show that higher alcohol taxes do not increase illicit sales, suggesting the industry’s arguments are aimed at protecting profit, not people’s health.

The February 25 budget will be a concrete test of whether the political momentum from the State of the Nation Address translates into fiscal action – or whether the government defers to ongoing stakeholder consultations in which the alcohol industry has worked aggressively to dilute, delay, and derail meaningful reform.