Channel Africa Interview: Counting the real cost of a drink
National Treasury’s plan to increase alcohol excise taxes and bring in a minimum unit price has run into predictable resistance from the alcohol industry. Speaking to Channel Africa, DGMT CEO David Harrison pushed back on the framing itself, arguing that South Africa cannot keep treating economic growth and public health as opposing goals when heavy […]
SAFM Interview: Heavy drinking costs South Africa more than the alcohol industry gives back
The National Treasury wants to increase alcohol excise taxes and introduce a minimum unit price. But the proposal has drawn criticism from the alcohol industry. DG Murray Trust CEO David Harrison spoke to SAFM. He argued that South Africa cannot continue to frame economic growth and public health as opposing goals, noting that heavy drinking […]
Media Statement: #WasteNot competition sheds light on the link between environmental health and child health
A new national competition is drawing much-needed public awareness to how the environments children grow up in shape their health and development. #WasteNot encourages the public to get creative about reducing, reusing and recycling. It’s a collaboration between Create Change — an initiative of the DG Murray Trust (DGMT) and Hold My Hand — a […]
Daily Maverick Article: A sober appraisal — why raising alcohol taxes protects SA’s health and wealth
The National Treasury has proposed increasing excise taxes and introducing a minimum unit price for alcohol. In response, industry bodies have released a flurry of articles through business media, arguing that such changes will encourage illicit trade, reduce tax revenues and worsen unemployment – and corporate leaders are bound to be targeted even more over […]
National Strategy to Accelerate Action for Children – Officially Released
The Department of Social Development has officially published the National Strategy to Accelerate Action for Children (NSAAC) on its website — a first for South Africa and a significant milestone in how government and civil society work together for children. Arising from President Ramaphosa’s 2024 State of the Nation Address, the NSAAC sets out ten […]
SAFM Interview: Where a child grows up shapes their future
On 21 July 2026, DGMT — with Change Ideas and the Hold My Hand campaign — hosted the inaugural Metro Lives public dialogue at the Homecoming Centre in District Six, Cape Town. Metro Lives was created to open up a public conversation about how South Africa’s cities and municipalities can build better lives for children, […]
Metro Lives: What can municipalities do for children?
Children don’t vote — but local government decisions shape their lives every day. Whether a child has a safe place to play, a park worth walking through, clean water, a registered early learning programme nearby, or a neighbourhood with more libraries than liquor outlets: these are municipal choices. Metro Lives is a series of public […]
Why mentorship must be at the heart of South Africa’s agricultural revival
The are fewer households involved in agricultural production today than there were in 2011, down from nearly 2.9 million to 2.4 million at the last count. This is driven by a combination of factors, such as limited access to capital and the expensive inputs needed to farm, environmental stressors like soil fertility and extreme weather, […]
MEDIA STATEMENT: The role of municipalities in the mission to end stunting — how service delivery and regulations affect child health
South Africa is officially on a mission to end stunting by 2030, but progress will depend on decisive action across every sphere of government. With Local Government Elections set to take place this year, leaders should be positioning their municipalities as places where children can grow and thrive. Stunting means that children are abnormally short-for-age […]
MEDIA STATEMENT: Northern Cape liquor trading hours case moves to Constitutional Court
After a partial win in the Northern Cape High Court, the DG Murray Trust (DGMT) has turned to the highest court in the land for the final say in a case about extended liquor trading hours in that province. DGMT has filed papers in the Constitutional Court just weeks after the Northern Cape High Court […]