When South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, appeared alongside Diageo South Africa, the University of Johannesburg, and the Youth Employment Service (YES) to launch a new “hospitality internship programme,” the message sounded uplifting: jobs, skills, and opportunity for young people.
But beneath the development rhetoric lies a familiar tactic. For Diageo, the world’s largest spirits producer, the partnership itself is the goal – a strategic investment in political access, public trust, and long-term profit maximization.
Partnership as permission
When governments partner with alcohol companies, they lend them legitimacy. The company stops being a regulated entity and becomes a co-architect of public development. This blurs the line between regulator and regulated, giving industry representatives a seat at the policy table and access to decision-makers who should instead be scrutinising them.
Such collaboration normalises the alcohol industry as a stakeholder in public health and education – even though its commercial interests fundamentally conflict with those of public well-being. The result is regulatory capture by invitation.
Political influence by integration
This is not a one-off. Diageo and other alcohol giants have a long record of embedding themselves inside governments and other institutions to delay, dilute, or derail effective alcohol policy.
The study Exposing Alcohol Industry Penetration of Governments in 24 Jurisdictions Around the World documents how alcohol corporations secure influence through partnerships, advisory roles, and “responsible drinking” campaigns. In New Zealand, previous misconduct reports reveals how Diageo and others pressured health authorities to stall alcohol-use guidelines and divert funds into industry-controlled programmes.
The same pattern is visible in South Africa. By joining hands with the Ministry of Higher Education, Diageo deepens its political relationships – relationships that can be mobilised when new tax proposals, marketing restrictions, or availability controls are on the table.
A global pattern of capture
Other alcohol giants have used identical tactics. AB InBev’s “Smart Drinking Goals” relies on university and NGO partnerships to portray the company as a public-health ally while lobbying against evidence-based regulation. Heineken’s “Brewing the Better World” promotes youth entrepreneurship schemes in Africa and Asia that double as brand-building and government-relationship platforms. In every case, the purpose is not social change – it is influence management.
A conflict of Interest that cannot be reconciled
The contradiction is structural. Diageo’s profits depend on high-risk alcohol use. Movendi has documented that a small minority of heavy users generate the majority of alcohol industry revenue, meaning the business model relies on people who consume far beyond low-risk levels.
Across global markets, heavier drinking occasions account for roughly half of all alcohol sold, showing that the industry’s financial success depends on patterns of harmful consumption.
An industry that relies on harm for profit cannot credibly present itself as a development partner. Every political relationship it cultivates serves to shield that business model from effective alcohol policy measures – the very policies that save lives.
Sources:
- Central News (Oct 4 2025): Deputy Minister Nomusa Dube-Ncube Launches Hospitality Internship Programme with Diageo, UJ, and YES to Empower South African Youth – https://centralnews.co.za/deputy-minister-nomusa-dube-ncube-launches-hospitality-internship-programme-with-diageo-uj-and-yes-to-empower-south-african-youth/