South Africa ranks as the fifth highest country in the world for alcohol consumption. To truly grasp how we arrived at this point, we need to look back well before the era of apartheid. Afrikaans farm owners employed a method known as the Dop System, which involved providing Black farm workers and miners with alcohol instead of monetary wages.
Although this practice was officially banned in 1961, it persisted into the early 1990s. As a result, many Black men were kept inebriated, leading to a cultural norm that has developed over time. The underlying intention behind the Dop System was to foster a compliant society lacking critical thinking skills. This explains why Steve Biko was assassinated in 1977—he was advocating for the mental liberation of Black individuals, a message that directly contradicted the government's objectives.
Even today, in many Black communities, a tavern can be found on almost every corner. When the ANC came to power in 1994, they did not dismantle this entrenched system; they merely replaced the old masters. The underlying strategy remains unchanged: a society consumed by alcohol is an ignorant society. This ignorance serves a purpose, as it keeps people distracted while the government continues its exploitation.
