By BAKANG MOKOTO
5 November 2024 – The Portfolio Committee on Health will resume public hearings on the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill of 2022 in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) from 8 until 10 November 2024. The KZN public hearings are the last provincial public hearings on the Bill, following the recently concluded public hearing in the Northern Cape.
The Portfolio Committee on Health of the 6th Parliament, conducted public hearings in seven provinces, and this committee is concluding the public participation process.
The Chairperson of Portfolio Committee, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo said on 25 October 2024, the committee resolved to continue its public participation process following legal advice from Parliamentary Legal Services on concerns about the NEDLAC consultation process. Dhlomo said the legal opinion stated that while the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) has its own internal protocol for considering matters, the NEDLAC Act does not prescribe a specific process that must be followed.
“It also noted that NEDLAC is empowered to continue engaging on the Bill even after it has been introduced in Parliament. It is on this basis that the committee decided to continue with its public participation process.
“The public hearings form part of Parliament’s constitutionally mandated public participation process to consult citizens in law-making. The committee reiterates its commitment to create a conducive platform for constructive inputs on the Bill, irrespective of the views held,” he said.
Dhlomo further said the Bill seeks to strengthen public health protection measures, align South African tobacco control law with the World Health Organization Framework Convention, and repeal the Tobacco Control Act of 1993. He added that the proposed legislative and policy changes seek to introduce indoor public places and certain outdoor areas will be designated 100% smoke-free.
“This includes a ban on the sale of cigarettes through vending machines, plain packaging with graphic health warnings and pictorials, a ban on display at point of sale, and the regulation and control of electronic nicotine delivery systems and non-nicotine delivery systems.
“In Northern Cape, the committee received varying inputs from members of the public and organisations, with some welcoming the Bill because it is a necessary intervention in the context of increasing consumption of tobacco and electronic delivery systems products,” said Dhlomo.
He said those supporting the Bill argued that public healthcare should supersede selfish profit-making by the tobacco industry. Dhlomo said also, supporters of the Bill argued that there was a need to curb access to tobacco products for vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant women, and the youth, which the Bill provides.
“Those against the Bill cautioned that the Bill would be detrimental to job prospects provided by the industry and would open the market for illicit cigarette trade, which would not benefit the country’s tax revenue base.
“Also, dissenters argued that the intention to introduce plain packaging has the potential to infringe on trademark laws of registered producers of tobacco products, which, according to them, was undesirable. Representatives of the electronic delivery systems industry also called for differentiation between vapes and tobacco products, which they argued was being conflated by the Bill,” he said.
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