South Africa: Health Committee Concludes Public Hearings On Tobacco Products Bill in Gauteng Despite Incapacity of Venue in Tshwane

27 November 2023
Parliament of South Africa (Cape Town)
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Parliament, Monday, 27 November 2023 - The Portfolio Committee on Health has successfully concluded three public hearings on the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill in Gauteng with residents of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality expressing contrasting views on the Bill.

The committee wishes to correct misconceptions that it intentionally locked a majority of members of the public who were against the Bill outside the venue in Tshwane to prevent them from raising their objection to the Bill. The committee has since the start of these hearings on the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill promoted public involvement on the Bill and it ensured the existence of environment favourable for meaningful public participation.

The venue provided by the municipality today could accommodate the maximum of only 250 people and by the time the session started the venue had reached its full capacity. The committee has a dichotomous responsibility regarding a venue for public hearings. It must ensure the existence of conducive environment for meaningful public participation on the one hand, and it must ensure the safety and security protocols are adhered to for the safety of everyone involved on the other hand.

Solutions to the capacity challenge was to make available forms for written submissions to everyone to enable written comments. The committee attaches the same value to both oral and written submissions. Secondly, representatives of the groups outside the venue were given an opportunity to enter and make oral submissions on the Bill.

It is thus patently incorrect and concerning that there are those trying to paddle untruths with the sole intention to malign what has been a fair process. The committee reiterates its commitment to listen to all views on the Bill irrespective of different perspectives. In line with this, it is confident that adequate opportunity was provided for every member of the public to air their views on the Bill.

During the hearings, residents who rejected the Bill based their rejection on the view that the preamble of the Bill incorrectly classified nicotine as a toxic substance. While participants with this view acknowledged that nicotine is addictive, they called for reclassification of the Bill to highlight the difference between electronic delivery systems and combustible cigarettes.

Small-scale traders were also critical of the Bill expressing their fear that the passing of the Bill will criminalise them and their small businesses when all they were trying to do was to make a living. They cautioned that the closure of small businesses will plunge many families in destitute as they depended on the sale of tobacco products for their livelihood.

The negative impact on South Africa's tax base was also raised as additional grounds for their rejection of the Bill. Participants argued that the implementation of the Bill will decrease the contribution made by the tobacco industry to the country's fiscus. They also argued that the implementation of the Bill will enable the illicit cigarettes market to grow. There were calls for government to find solutions to the challenge of illicit cigarettes.

Those against the Bill also underscored the necessity of information and urged government to focus on educating the public about the dangers of consumption of tobacco products. Also, concerns were raised about the gap in enforcement mechanism to ensure implementation of the Bill.

Those in support of the Bill argued for the implementation of plain packaging because it will ensure reduction of compulsive buying of tobacco products. Furthermore, they embraced the proposal of having pictures on the packaging to highlight the dangers of smoking. They concurred with the proposal for the outright banning of the sale of tobacco products through vending machines.

They also emphasised their confidence in the Bill that it will protect non-smokers against the dangers imposed by second hand smoke inhalation. Having completed the Gauteng public hearings today, the committee will resume hearings on the Bill in KwaZulu-Natal in January next year.

The Bill seeks to strengthen public health protection measures, align South African tobacco control law with the World Health Organisation Framework Convention and repeal the Tobacco Control Act, 1993 (Act No. 83 of 1993). The proposed legislative and policy changes seek to introduce the following:

(a) indoor public places and certain outdoor areas that will be designated 100 per cent

smoke-free;

(b) a ban on the sale of cigarettes through vending machines;

(c) plain packaging with graphic health warnings and pictorials;

(d) a ban on display at point-of-sale; and

(e) the regulation and control of electronic nicotine delivery systems and non-nicotine delivery systems.

Read the original article on Parliament of South Africa.

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