New alcohol abuse forum gets going 18 July 2007

NGOs will work together

A fundamental weakness of efforts to address the scourge of alcohol abuse in the winelands (such a serious issue that it led to an aggressive exchange between some parties) has been lack of co-operation between and among NGOs and other organisations. Now a formal forum has been created which may finally move toward greater collaboration and practical measures.

Following a conference held at Goudini recently, attended by a widely-representative 17 organisations and representatives, including the farm worker community, the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, which organised the gathering, has taken the lead in establishing a forum that will co-ordinate all future efforts and programmes.

Western Cape Minister of Agriculture Cobus Dowry said the conference agreed that a holistic process should be followed and that all role-players should be represented. Dowry said ‘We can only succeed in our efforts to combat the abuse of alcohol and other addictive substances through a holistic process instead of a fragmented approach, where many organisations are duplicating certain efforts, whilst there is little or even a total lack of attention in other areas.’

During the third term of this year, the forum will meet with the department of social services to discuss taking the project further

The members of the Alcohol Abuse Forum are Leslie Fillis (Rudnet), Hilda Links (Dopstop), Sophia Warner (Pebbles), Henry Horne (Vineyard Academy), Keith Dumpies (KD Projects), Pieter Viljoen (ITO Focus), Nosey Pieterse (Bawsi), Francois Grobbelaar (FasFacts), Fatima Shabodien (Women on Farms), Carl Opperman (Agri Western Cape), Anton Rabe (Deciduous Fruit Producer’s Trust), Johan van Rooyen (Wine Industry, Wida/Sawic), Willy Williams (Nafu), M Mzukisi (Crls), Samuel de Koker (Farm Worker Co-ordinating Council), Fransie Lemboe (Badisa), David Fourie (Sanra), Myrtle Williams (Cape Winelands District Municipality), Leana Olivier (Farr) and Danie Niemand (Department of Agriculture).