Tobacco bill may languish in parliament
Public health advocates have expressed dismay at the likely prospect that MPs will not finish work on the government’s tough new anti-tobacco laws before parliament rises ahead of the May general election.
If, as is widely expected, the fiercely contested bill lapses, it will be up to the parliament formed by SA’s next administration to decide whether to revive the bill and continue work on it.
The draft Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill proposes tough new restrictions on tobacco goods and will for the first time regulate new-generation products such as e-cigarettes.
It was released for public comment in 2018, but only submitted to parliament last year. As it is a bill that affects the provinces, it has to be scrutinised by both houses of parliament. It is now under consideration by the National Assembly’s portfolio committee on health, which has just weeks to go before it wraps up its business ahead of the election on May 29.
The committee has held public hearings in seven provinces since August 2023, but has yet to do so in KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Cape. Only once these hearings are completed will it take oral submissions from stakeholders in parliament and receive input from the health department and the state law adviser. The last stage of its work would be line-by-line deliberation on the bill, which it would then refer to the National Assembly for approval.
“Any more delays favour the industry, not the health of the nation,” said public health consultant Zanele Mthembu, who is the convener of Protect Our Next, an alliance of public health organisations. “There is enough harm being done by these products we don’t need any more,” she said.
Public hearings had been scheduled for KwaZulu-Natal in December, but were cancelled without explanation and no new dates had been set by the committee, said Mthembu. Protect Our Next had yet to receive a response to the letter it sent to committee chair Kenneth Jacobs querying the delay, she said.
Jacobs declined to comment, saying he was “unavailable for the next few days”.
DA shadow health minister Michele Clarke said committee members were in the dark about the reasons for the delays.
Public health campaigners say the bill is long overdue, and if passed would bring SA back to the forefront of global tobacco control. It proposes greater restrictions on smoking in public places, introduces plain packaging and picture warnings, bans vending machine sales, prohibits point of sale advertising and regulates e-cigarettes and other new-generation products in much the same way as tobacco.
Despite compelling evidence that tobacco kills, 29.4% of SA’s population over the age of 15 years either smokes or uses smokeless tobacco products, according to the GATS SA survey, conducted by the SA Medical Research Council (MRC).
Research on the use of ecigarettes in SA is limited, but public health experts are worried about their rising use among teenagers and young adults.
“This [bill] is very important in terms of the new and emerging products that are not regulated: every year more and more children are getting addicted,” said National Council Against Smoking deputy director Sharon Nyatsanza.
Cosatu parliamentary coordinator Matthew Parks said it was important for parliament not to rush the bill. “Parliament should rather take its time to process the bill and not cut corners. We don’t want industry to litigate and win on process grounds,” he said.