New Drinks Federation of South Africa to foster the country's economic growth and social cohesion

The Drinks Federation of South Africa (DF-SA) launched today as a united, purposeful, and proactive endeavour to bring together for the first time the whole of the drinks industry for good. With a bold ambition to help make South Africa a more prosperous, just, and safer place, producers of beer, wine and spirits of all shapes and sizes are joining hands. And they invite tens of thousands of businesses who rely on them for their livelihood and others to join the cause.

‘The drinks industry has been part of this country’s history and will continue to play a significant role in socio-economic growth and employment creation, said Monhla Hlahla, the Drinks Federation of South Africa's newly appointed non-Executive Chairperson and Senior Advisor. The timing of the Drinks Federation post-COVID lockdown is opportune, as it begins the journey to showcase the industry as a force for good in our society and a reliable partner for government and key stakeholders to build a healthier, prosperous, more inclusive and humane society. I am excited to contribute to this journey, whose outcomes will touch many households and society at large."

The DF-SA will serve as a platform for engagement with policymakers, regulators, the media, and community partners.   To support its work, the DF-SA will be a place for networking, sharing best practices and information on matters of common interest. These will include leading the industry's Code of Conduct and a transformation framework; and bringing innovation, scale and visibility to the industry's efforts to address the illicit trade and promote market formalisation, among other things. Finally, it will seek to bring scale, the science behind behaviour change, and fresh insights to interventions on road safety, underage drinking, irresponsible drinking, gender-based violence, and FASD, by uniting with Aware.org and collaborating with its Members on their responsibility initiatives.

(From left to right: 1)Gavin Poke, MD, Diageo South Africa Proprietary Limited, 2) Monhla Hlahla, DF-SA Chairman, 3)Tim Hutchinson, Chairman, DGB Proprietary Limited, 4)Gregory Leymarie, CEO, Pernod Ricard South Africa Proprietary Limited, 5)Pinky Kekana, Deputy Minister in the Presidency, 6)Karin Krause Wessels, MD, Edward Snell & Co Proprietary Limited, 7)Wim Buhrmann, MD, Distell Limited, 8)Angela Russel, DF-SA CEO,  and 9)Jordi Borrut Bel, MD, Heineken South Africa (RF) Proprietary Limited

 

"South Africa's future and our future are inseparable in today's challenges and tomorrow's opportunities. We will get this right together. That's where the Drinks Federation of South Africa will help us reset and chart a new course," said Gavin Pike, DF-SA Board member. 

 

The DF-SA has, of course, a solid foundation on which to build. According to a 2019 survey from FTI Consulting, the industry supported over 500 000 jobs, delivering a total of R101.1 bn to GDP, R7.21 bn in indirect tax payments to the government, and R216.6 in capital investment. Moreover, for every 1 (one) direct job in the alcohol industry, a total of 8.84 jobs are supported across the economy. 

 

Angela Russell, the Drinks Federation of South Africa's new CEO, added, "Our journey has no end point, as there will always be challenges and opportunities."  "Our success will come when we meet the expectations of everyday South Africans to make their communities better through the jobs we bring; the societal changes we foster; through metrics showing movement towards a more responsible drinking culture, and the standards by which we hold ourselves and others to account, said Russell. 

 

DF-SA's Board of Directors includes DGB (Pty) Ltd; Diageo South Africa (Pty) Ltd; Distell Limited; Edward Snell & Company, Heineken South Africa (RF) (Pty) Ltd, Pernod Ricard South Africa (Pty) Ltd, South African Breweries (Pty) Ltd, and Warshay Investments (PTY) trading as KWV. 

 

To learn more about the Drinks Federation of South Africa, visit https://drinksfederationsa.co.za/demo/.

Drinks Federation of South Africa. United for Good.