Sihlalo ohloniphekile, neNdlu yonke, Mhlonishwa Ngqongqoshe woMnyango, engingakusho namhlanje ukubonga igalelo eselenziwe uMnyango Wezempilo ukulwa nalesi sitha esingugwayi.
Ugwayi umnandi kabi kwabawubhemayo kodwa ekugcineni uyabajikela udle bona. Okufika kube kubi kakhulu ukuthi uyingozi kakhulu kuwena ongabhemi. Okunye okwenziwa yilaba abawubhemayo, ukungabacabangeli laba abangabhemi uthole sebewuphafuza phakathi kwabantu, abanye ubahile, kuvuke ukukhwehlela futhi abanye bacinane.
Siyethemba ukuthi leli gxathu elithathwe nguMnyango Wezempilo ukunciphisa nokuqeda ugwayi lizovikela izingane nentsha yethu ezinkingeni ezivela ekubhemeni ugwayi.
Imali iyamoseka kuthengwa intuthu esikhundleni sokudla. Ugwayi umosa imali okufanele yondle umndeni. Ugwayi ubhubhise imizi nemfuyo ngenxa yezinqamu ezintshingwa noma kanjani zisavutha. Ibhubhile imizi nemfuyo, nemijondolo eminingi ngenxa yezinqamu zikagwayi ezintshingwa zivutha. Thina beyiNkatha Freedom Party sithi phambili nemizamo yokuqeda ugwayi, phambili! [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu speech follows.)
[Mrs J N VILAKAZI: Hon Chairperson, the House at large and hon Minister, what I can say today is simply to thank the Department of Health for its contribution in fighting this enemy called tobacco.
Smoking is a very sweet and nice thing to those who are smokers, but it is that very sweetness which consumes them in the end. What is even worse is that smoking is more dangerous to the nonsmokers. Another thing is that smokers are inconsiderate when it comes to nonsmokers. Sometimes you find them puffing their smokes amongst other people, and in the process some people would get choked, others would cough, while others get their breathing blocked.
We just hope that this step taken by the Department of Health to mitigate and abolish tobacco will protect the children and the youth against the problems caused by smoking.
Money is wasted in buying just one smoke instead of food. Smoking wastes the very money that should be supporting the family. Smoking has destroyed houses and livestock because of cigarette butts which are thrown away carelessly while they are still burning. Many houses, livestock and shacks are destroyed due to cigarette butts that are thrown while they are still burning. We, the Inkatha Freedom Party, say forward with the efforts to abolish tobacco, forward! [Applause.]]
Ms P MCKAY (KwaZulu-Natal): Chair, hon Deputy Minister, I just want to say that KwaZulu-Natal supports this Bill unanimously. We had four public hearings and we did note with concern the grievous harm done as a result of the ingestion of tobacco products by people in our country and in the world. Certainly, the Deputy Minister's remarks confirm this concern.
I would like to congratulate the antitobacco lobby group who came to our hearings and made sure we were informed in terms of facts and figures and that when we made our unanimous decision, we had the correct information at hand. But I also want to comment on the protobacco lobby group which came to our hearings and tried by various means to dragoon us into not passing this legislation. At one of our hearings about eight of us were sitting at a table in Durban at lunch time, and two members of the prolobby group came and sat down with us. They started talking about how wrong we were, and asked us questions about why we were not tackling alcohol in the same way. I just happened to ask both of them, "Do you smoke?" No, they don't smoke. "Do your families smoke?" No, their families don't smoke. Now, how do you have a prolobby group that knows how dangerous it is for them to smoke and for their families to smoke? So, really, this was not acceptable.
I particularly want to applaud the banning of the sale of cigarettes to those under 18 years of age. Some years ago, when I was managing a place of safety called Excelsior in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal, the children were rewarded from the age of 14 upwards by being allowed to smoke! As a social worker, I decided to tackle this and try to get smoking thrown out of that institution. I was not successful, because the other members of the management team said no, if you condemn smoking, you have no weapon whereby you can make children behave themselves. Luckily now, not a child in any of these institutions will be allowed to smoke.
I think we also need to tackle smoking in places like prisons, because it also is part of the prison culture. So I really want to commend this Bill for taking action against a very harmful practice that leads to early death and illness. It was mentioned by one of the speakers that some people make a living from selling cigarettes singly. Yes, we note that with concern; but at the same time we would not allow people to make a living from selling heroin, cocaine or other harmful products, so we cannot take that into consideration.
This Bill makes sure that when people smoke, they will know that it is harmful. The packaging of cigarettes will show them how harmful the product is that they are ingesting. Health warnings are indicated. Even information on how to quit smoking must be supplied to those who smoke. Maybe one day, colleagues, we will reach a total ban on cigarette smoking and maybe people will say enough is enough.
It's interesting to note that vending machines will now only be allowed in places which are legal smoking areas, and that one cannot sell cigarettes with cool drinks, chocolates and all sorts of other things anymore.
I just want to reiterate my dismay at the lengths to which the pro-smoking lobby goes - these parties that they have for children where they dish out cigarettes in order to lure them into smoking. I'm very glad to see that we are taking strong action; we are leaders in the world. Smoking is something we've approached in the right way. Let us continue to monitor this. Thank you.