Anti-smoking laws ‘unrealistic’

Cape Town - Township tavern owners have rejected the government’s latest anti-smoking regulations as unrealistic, including the ban on lighting up within 10m of building entrances.

“Ten metres from my place would be over the road and in somebody else’s yard,” says David Sawula, owner of Gugulethu’s popular Popza’s Place.

“A lot of the places in our township will face the same problem because of the density and overcrowding,” Sawula said.

The Health Department regulation states: “Pollution from tobacco smoke will be further reduced by restricting smoking in certain outdoor areas. Smoking will be moved away from entrances to buildings and smoking will be restricted in sports stadia, railway platforms, bus stops, alfresco dining areas, etc.”

 

Sawula, a member of the Township Liquor Industry Association (Tolia), said Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s attempt to push through the regulations would also lead to a loss of jobs.

“The people who are doing this don’t come to the townships, yet they come with a lot of regulations and by-laws. We will be losing a lot of business,” he said.

Tolia members met in Mitchells Plain on Wednesday to discuss the regulations, Sawula said. They now want to open discussions with the Health Department.

“We are not fighters. We are businessmen and we don’t have time for that,” he said.

Tolia president Gus Ntlokwana

said: “We expect the government to support entrepreneurship, the creation of jobs and the sustainability of our businesses.”

He said they had unhappily complied with previous laws that regulated smoking indoors, but the outdoor regulations were a step too far.

“We will lose out,” he said.

“Motsoaledi has become disconnected from the townships since moving to the leafy suburbs. Our challenges are unique and we need government to understand this so that they can develop policy and regulations that make sense to all sectors of society, not only in Sandton, Water-kloof and Constantia,” said Ntlokwana.

“This is ridiculous in townships because 10m from one door is right in front of another door,” he said.

Ntlokwana said he believed that these regulations were a shortcut and that the government needed to develop regulations in consultation with all affected parties and with the country’s unique socio-economic challenges in mind.

“We urge the minister to give more thought to how these regulations affect the people and their businesses. Education has helped to tackle HIV/Aids and TB, why can’t the same be done for smoking?” he said.

“In passing regulations that make no sense to small business and townships, he is, in effect, alienating tens of thousands of voters, and that isn’t smart,” said Ntlokwana.

But councillor

Lungiswa James said: “We are speaking about people’s health. What about the non-smokers who want to go the tavern for a drink? You can smoke but in a designated area. It is up to the business owners to create a space for smokers.”