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The proposed ban on the sale of single cigarettes and a ban on the display of all tobacco products contained in the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill will not work in the township economy, and will severely prejudice informal traders ability to make a living. Cigarettes are one of the most highly traded products for the informal sector of the retail market.

This was the message delivered by Rosheda Muller, Chairperson of the National Informal Traders Alliance of South Africa (NITASA) at provincial public hearings in Paarl, convened by the Portfolio Committee on Health.  The next round of hearings will be held in KwaZulu-Natal from 8-10 March. NITASA members will attend to deliver this message to the Committee in person. 

Muller said: “We need laws developed by South Africans for South Africans - it’s clear this law is designed for Europe and other more developed nations. It will shut down a legal source of income for traders, many of whom operate on the breadline, in a desperate attempt to feed, clothe and educate their families.”

NITASA is a national coalition of informal micro businesses, which represents thousands of the estimated 2.2 million hardworking table top traders, hawkers, spaza shop owners and home-based operators across all nine provinces.

Ban on single cigarettes sales

Muller said: “Cigarettes form a large percentage of many traders’ incomes, and play a vital role in attracting customers who stop for cigarettes, and then purchase a range of other products. The majority of these cigarettes are sold as single cigarettes, known as ‘draws’ or ‘sticks’, and are not sold in a pack. This is because customers cannot afford to buy a full box of twenty cigarettes, nor do they want to - many simply want one or two cigarettes for the day.”

The provision which bans the sale of single sticks is to be found in Clause 4, subsection 3(c) of the Bill,  relating to Standardised Packaging and Labeling of Tobacco Products, where it clearly says that “no person shall sell a tobacco product …unless it is in an intact package containing the prescribed quantity or weight of the tobacco product”. 

Display ban

The Bill will ban the display of all tobacco products.

Muller said: “Think about what this means to the informal trade. Cigarettes are a huge drawcard for customers, attracting them to a particular trader, from whom they then may also buy other products. How will our customers know traders are selling cigarettes if we can’t display our stock?  Banning us and our members from showing what we sell doesn’t make sense in our trading environment. It will also drive the illicit trade in cigarettes, which is already massive as a result of the Government’s Covid ban on the sale of cigarettes.”

Ban on public outdoor smoking

The Bill bans smoking in public outdoor areas, such as taxi ranks and bus stations. It places the responsibility on the trader to stop anyone smoking near their table or stall. If a trader doesn’t do this, they face a prison sentence of five years.

Muller said, “Government can’t seriously expect informal traders to police citizens in public areas. It’s absurd.”

Extreme prison sentences

These profoundly unrealistic and senseless provisions come with five- and ten-year prison sentences, or a fine if traders do not comply. The current prison sentence for aggravated assault is three years, but Government wants to send informal traders to prison for ten years for selling a legal product. 

Muller said, “The Bill puts every hawker or trader on the wrong side of the law.  Which is startling because informal traders, most of which are women, are already some of the most marginalised in our society.  For many their little table on a pavement is all that they have to live off, as these women struggle daily to feed their families. Does our government not have more important things to do than criminalising millions of honest, hard-working informal traders?” 

NITASA is very concerned the Tobacco Bill will be pushed through without taking account of the written  and oral submissions made by hundreds of affected parties and sectors who are critical to the economy, like the informal trade.

Muller said: “To date, the public hearings have not been conducted in the true spirit of participatory democracy with last minute notification of venues, venues which are too small to accommodate the public, and meetings start late, and in almost every province, end early.  In the Western Cape specifically, we are deeply disappointed that Parliament failed to arrange even a single public hearing in Cape Town, home to many thousands of traders.  We have actually written to the Chair of Chairs in Parliament, the Hon. Frolick to raise these concerns. We are holding our breath to see what happens in KwaZulu-Natal.”

Muller also cautioned the Department of Health and the Portfolio Committee to carefully read and interrogate the meaning and impact of the Bill before simply rubber stamping it. MP’s have an important role to play in ensuring that the laws that are adopted for our country are workable, appropriate and based on evidence. 

“The majority of those attending the public hearings have rejected the Bill. There’s nothing wrong with the current tobacco control laws, they just need to be enforced. The informal trade is the lifeblood of the economy, and a mass employer, and Government should be doing everything it can to support this job-rich sector, not destroy it.”

“We are very worried that despite the issues raised by informal traders, and other affected parties, that the Portfolio Committee will simply follow the directives of its political leaders and ignore the many constructive comments, inputs and suggestions it has received. We’ve seen this happen with numerous other pieces of legislation, most recently the NHI Bill.”

Issued by the National Informal Traders Alliance of South Africa