Proposed Tobacco Control Bill Garners Mixed Reactions

Some residents of Kimberley, Northern Cape, have mixed views on the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill.

The public hearings that Parliaments Portfolio Committee on Health has been holding in the province ended yesterday.

The Bill seeks to ban the sale of cigarettes through vending machines and cigarette displays at points of sale.

Here are some residents sentiments: I agree with the bill. The bill is correct in terms of what they are saying about the usage of tobacco. We can see now that the youth is using it more than the elderly people and also what I would like to say is unemployment is whats causing cigarettes and nicotine to be used more, says one resident.

Another resident adds, I do not agree with the bill because already we have existing fake food and fake alcohol in our country. So restricting cigarettes may result in making fake cigarettes and that might kill a lot of people or make the situation bad.