OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Tuesday 6.30pm.
A LAST-MINUTE amendment to Dr Nkosazana Zuma’s anti-tobacco bill will see a blanket ban on smoking in all public places.
A further amendment has backed the R200 fine for smoking in the workplace with a jail sentence if the smoker can’t or won’t pay up.
The changes are yet to be formally approved by the National Council of Provinces.
However the NCOP’s health committee on Tuesday agreed informally that the proposed fine for lighting up in public places — which includes the workplace — should be linked to an alternative of “such imprisonment as may be determined”.
It also agreed that the fine — a flat R200 in Zuma’s version of the bill — should be set at up to R200 for individuals and not less than that amount for corporate bodies.
The committee last week formally approved several technical amendments to the measure, the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Bill, which have already been sent to the provinces for their go-ahead.
The committee also agreed to strengthen the bill with a clear ban on smoking in public places. Tuesday’s amendment proposes instead a simple blanket ban on smoking in any public place, with ministerial power to grant exemptions.
Members decided not to press ahead with a proposal to tighten a clause that forces vendors to sell tobacco products only in packages, by adding the requirement that the packages be sealed.
Free State ANC delegate Isabella Direko said that selling loose cigarettes was “the order of the day” in the townships, while party colleague Stefan Grove, of Mpumalanga, said he thought the additional restriction was impractical.