The Bill seeks to ban the sale of cigarettes through vending machines and cigarette displays at points of sale.
Here are some residents’ sentiments: “I agree with the bill. The bill is correct in terms of what they are saying about the usage of tobacco. We can see now that the youth is using it more than the elderly people and also what I would like to say is unemployment is what’s causing cigarettes and nicotine to be used more,” says one resident.
The Portfolio Committee on Health will today continue with public hearings on the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control BillAnother resident adds, “I do not agree with the bill because already we have existing fake food and fake alcohol in our country. So restricting cigarettes may result in making fake cigarettes and that might kill a lot of people or make the situation bad.”
The committee’s chairperson Sibongiseni Dhlomo has reiterated that input from relevant stakeholders will inform their decisions. “I think we are going somewhere. The importance of public participation is that we sit in Cape Town, we will be encouraged by saying this is the package of views that are coming from South Africans from all nine provinces, for those who participate and therefore we grind, and panel beat the bill based on that.