The City of Cape Town has approved a change to its fire hazard by-laws that will make it easier to prosecute people who toss cigarette butts out of their car windows.
The amendment, passed at this week’s council meeting, means the prosecution no longer has the burden of proving who chucked the butt.
Instead, the onus will rest on the registered owner of the vehicle, with a presumption that, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, he or she is responsible.
Cape Town has in recent years been hit by a series of devastating fires, many of them in the Table Mountain National Park, which borders on urban development and roads.
A Cape Town man is facing a culpable homicide charge after allegedly flicking a cigarette butt from his vehicle on Table Mountain and setting off a blaze that led to the death of a British tourist.
According to the city’s fire department, the change is not a ”vendetta” against smokers.
”We are only re-defining how to prosecute. The determination of who is responsible for discarding lighted or smoking material from a moving vehicle is very difficult,” it said.
Another change to the by-law will hold owners and managers of premises such as restaurants accountable for patrons who light up in areas where they are not supposed to.
The assistant divisional officer in the city fire department’s fire-safety section, Denzil Ramedies, said the fine for this offence would likely be in the region of R1 000.
An amendment to national anti-smoking legislation, expected to be approved by the National Assembly on Thursday afternoon, sets a R50 000 fine for owners who permit illegal smoking. — Sapa