The amendments on the Tobacco Products Control Act would criminalise smoking in any building, outdoor venue, public or private beach, outdoor drinking or eating area, park, walkway, parking area, or within ten metres of any doorway or window. Under the new regulations, which are expected to come into effect within the next few months, business owners can be fined as much as R50  000, and employers up to R100 000 if they don’€™t enforce the law.  

‘€œThe new regulations are not designed to force people to stop smoking, it is meant to protect non-smokers,’€ said Dr Yussuf Saloojee, executive director of the National Council Against Smoking. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 600  000 people are killed every year by second-hand smoke.

The group said yesterday that enclosed smoking areas in restaurants do little to protect non-smokers from exposure to tobacco smoke.   Professor Lekan Ayo-Yusuf from the University of Pretoria explained that research done on the air-quality of Pretoria restaurants found high levels of second-hand tobacco smoke in non-smoking areas.   The recommended level of tobacco smoke considered safe by the WHO is 25 µg/m3, but the average level of tobacco smoke at the eight restaurants studied were 304 µg/m3, with levels as reaching as high as 940 µg/m3.

‘€œSeparation of smokers from non ‘€“smokers, ventilation systems, air cleaning and filtration are all ineffective strategies to eliminate second-hand smoke exposure and its harmful effects,’€ said Ayo-Yusuf. ‘€œA 100 percent smoking ban is the only means of effectively eliminating indoor exposure to second-hand smoke.’€

The NCAS briefing followed recent attacks on the new regulations by the Free Market Foundation (FMF) and the Tobacco Institute of South Africa (Tisa). Both organisations have connections to the tobacco industry.

The South African Medical Association (SAMA), the Junior Doctors Association of South Africa (JUDASA), the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA), the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Public Health Association of South Africa (PHASA) announced their support for the new legislation at the briefing.

The main objection Tisa and the FMF voiced with the new law is the supposed financial impact it would have on the hospitality industry. They believe that restaurants and bars would lose business if smoking banned.

However, Professor Corné van Walbeeck of the University of Cape Town, who also presented at the NCAS press conference, said that research suggests otherwise. In 2004, Van Walbeeck and colleagues conducted a study on how the hospitality industry was impacted by the 2001 ban on smoking in public places which allowed for enclosed smoking areas. They found that 59.3% of 1 000-plus restaurant owners who were interviewed in the study said that the new smoking legislation made no impact whatsoever on their revenue, and a further 21.7% thought it actually contributed to a rise in revenue. The remaining 19% felt the new regulations had a negative financial impact.

The same study also found that the new legislation was well received by non-smokers as well as smokers.

Another UCT study that looked at the actual turnover of restaurants for the same period found no evidence that restaurant turnover decreased after the imposition of the clean indoor air legislation in 2001. ‘€œTherefore, based on international and South African research there is no reason to believe that the proposed regulations will have a detrimental impact on the restaurant industry,’€ said Van Walbeeck.

‘€œThe new regulations reinforce our constitutional values in which the constitution states that everyone has the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being,’€ said Kalli (stet) Spencer from JUDASA.

PHASA congratulated the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, saying that: ‘€œthe new regulations demonstrate a renewed commitment to the health and wellbeing of South Africans.’€