South Africa has revealed plans to ban alcohol advertising in an attempt to curtail violence driven by excessive drinking, the health minister said.

Having one of the world's highest crime rates, the country attracts foreign experts "just to learn to deal with wounds of injury and violence because we are regarded as a laboratory for that," Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi told reporters in a briefing.

"The driving factor behind this is alcohol, the harmful effects of alcohol. We're not going to pull back about the issue of alcohol control, including the banning on advertising of alcohol."

"It's just a matter of time -- it's not an issue of whether, it's an issue of when," he further added.

Violence and injuries are the top killer in South Africa after AIDS, Motsoaledi conveyed to delegates at a World Health Organisation conference on violence prevention.

About 3.5 million people are treated for injuries annually in an already overburdened public system, he said.

"If saving our people earns us a title of being a nanny (state), I very much welcome that title," Motsoaledi stated vehemently to The South African.

The WHO is frantically searching for ways to reduce levels of violence, which it says places a huge strain on health systems.

South Africans rank 52nd among the world's heaviest drinkers, according to the WHO, and is one of the world's most violent societies with 46 murders per day and high levels of rape.

Etienne Krug, WHO's director of violence prevention, said the consequences of violence went beyond death and injury and led to problems like disabilities, mental health issues and sexual infections.

"Violence is one of the biggest public health problems in the world," he said, saying it did not get "even 1 per cent" of the attention given to other major challenges.

"HIV kills 1.7 million people a year. Violence kills 1.5 million."