S.African parliament votes to ban public smoking (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

                                 S.African parliament votes to ban public
smoking 
                                 12:15 p.m. Nov 04, 1998 Eastern 

                                 By Michelle Willemse 

                                 CAPE TOWN, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The South
African parliament's lower house
                                 voted on Wednesday to ban tobacco
advertising and outlaw smoking in public. 

                                 The deeply controversial Tobacco Products
Control Amendment Bill now only
                                 has to pass the final hurdle of the upper
house, the National Council of the
                                 Provinces, on Thursday next week before
President Nelson Mandela signs it into
                                 law. 

                                 In a bid to head off the bill, the tobacco
industry has already taken Health
                                 Minister Nkosazana Zuma to court only to
see its case summarily dismissed. It
                                 may now resort to the Constitutional Court. 

                                 ``We are very much aware that this is but
the beginning of a titanic battle
                                 between us and those who profit from this
substance tobacco,'' Zuma said on
                                 Tuesday as she presented the bill to the
National Assembly. 

                                 ``The tobacco industry spends 240 million
rand ($43 million) a year on
                                 advertising and promotions, yet claims that
it does not influence either adults or
                                 children to smoke. This argument is
preposterous,'' she added, epitomising the
                                 tone of debate. 

                                 Around seven million of the country's 40
million inhabitants are smokers. But the
                                 bill will not only have an impact on them
-- it could also put thousands of jobs at
                                 risk. 

                                 Playing on high levels of unemployment,
which ran at about 30 percent at the end
                                 of 1997, tobacco industry representatives
stressed during heated public hearings
                                 the possibility of major job losses if
advertising and sponsorship of events were
                                 banned. 

                                 Unofficial estimates suggest that some
15,000 jobs could be lost in the industry
                                 and many more in related fields. 

                                 Zuma countered on Tuesday, saying the job
losses would be short lived as
                                 smokers kicking the habit would switch
spending to other industries. 

                                 ``Money not spent on cigarettes will still
be spent, but for other goods and
                                 services, thereby creating new jobs,'' she
said. 

                                 ``While some jobs would be lost in those
sectors immediately associated with
                                 cigarette production, there would be a net
gain in employment in all other sectors
                                 of the economy,'' she added. 

                                 ``The principal contribution of the tobacco
industry is not a source of
                                 employment or revenue but as a source of
illness and premature death,'' Zuma
                                 said. 

                                 Most opposition parties said they supported
the aim of the bill -- to prevent
                                 children from being drawn into smoking --
but rejected it for its economic side
                                 effects, describing it as unbalanced and
full of legal potholes. 

                                 ``Much as we want to have the smoking habit
curbed, we want it done without
                                 the loss of jobs, investment or promotion
of arts, culture and sport,'' Inkatha
                                 Freedom Party's Ruth Rabinowitz said. 

                                 ``When evaluating the bill as a whole, it
is an unbalanced bill because the
                                 disadvantages thereof overshadow the
advantages by far,'' Freedom Front health
                                 spokesman Pieter Grobbelaar said. 

                                 ``The Pan Africanist Congress favours a
more gradual phase-out approach
                                 which will not cause major and sudden
economic disruption for our country,''
                                 spokeswoman Paticia de Lille told parliament. 

                                 ``Although the purpose of the legislation
may be legitimate and important, this is
                                 not sufficient to ensure that the
legislation is lawful,'' she added. 


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