Smoking in South Africa
In South Africa, cigarettes are legally allowed to be sold and used, but they are regulated with some restrictions. Tobacco advertising is regulated, but there is no comprehensive ban on all forms of advertising. The minimum legal age to buy cigarettes is 18 years, and health warnings on packaging are required. Cigarettes cannot be purchased online, but they are available through vending machines and other sales channels. Smoking is not fully restricted in all public places. The country applies a specific excise tax of 47.04%, contributing to a total taxation rate of 60.09% on cigarettes. The current prevalence of tobacco smoking among adults aged 15 years and older in South Africa, was recorded to be 23.3% in 2024. In comparison, this was 20.2% in 2020 and 20.7% in 2019. Data by gender from 2024 indicate that 39.3% of adult males and 8.5% of adult females were tobacco smokers, illustrating a significant gender differences in smoking habits. The total number of current smokers in 2024 was estimated to be 10.9 million individuals. The adult daily tobacco smoking prevalence in 2021 was 21.2%, with 35.1% among males and 8.3% among females. In terms of mortality, smoking accounted for 4.42% of all deaths in South Africa in 2021, and it led to 5.75% of male deaths compared to 2.86% of female deaths. The annual number of smoking-related deaths in 2021 was 32,442, including 22,817 males and 9,625 females. The number of smokers in 2022 was approximately 8,617,084, showing an increase from 8,323,703 smokers in 2020. These statistics represent the ongoing public health challenge posed by tobacco smoking in South Africa, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions to reduce smoking prevalence and related mortality.
Read articles from South Africa
February 01, 2024 by filtermag.org
Watch: Mandela Asked This Harm Reductionist, “How Can I Be Helpful?”
Dr. Kgosi Letlape has been a passionate and relentless activist on the side of “the underdog,” as he puts it, for most of his life. An ophthalmologist in South Africa, Letlape is the former chairman of the South African Medical Association and a co-founder of the Africa Harm Reduction Alliance. In our filmed interview, he told Filter how South Africa’s devastating HIV epidemic has profoundly changed him, shifting him from “not just activism of talking, but of action and making things happen.”
January 08, 2024 by businesstech.co.za
Call to change smoking and vaping taxes in South Africa
South Africa needs to strike a balance between the perspectives of both economists and health experts as to how tax rates should be determined for nicotine products, says Marius van Oordt, an expert in indirect taxation in developing countries. Over the past several years, the world has seen an evolution of tobacco and nicotine products, particularly evident in electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS or e-cigarettes). To accommodate such a change, experts have been presenting contrasting views.
December 04, 2023 by businesstech.co.za
Warning over new smoking laws for South Africa
Gauteng residents are divided on the hotly contested draft Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill, with businesses warning that implementing the new laws will have negative consequences for the country’s township economy. The Portfolio Committee on Health recently held three public hearings over the Bill in Gauteng, and much like the public engagement in Limpopo, the North West, and Mpumulanga, there was support and rejection of the Bill. The Bill broadly aims to introduce the following:
- Declare indoor public places and certain outdoor areas 100% smoke-free.
- Ban the sale of cigarettes through vending machines. [...]
September 19, 2023 by businesstech.co.za
New smoking laws for South Africa – a job-killer in plain packaging
The Portfolio Committee on Health has conducted more public hearings on the new Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill, with participants expressing mixed views. The new Bill has been met with both support and vehement opposition, depending on the clauses being focused on. Broadly, the bill aims to introduce the following:
- Indoor public places and certain outdoor areas will be determined to be 100% smoke-free.
- Ban the sale of cigarettes through vending machines.
- Plain packaging with graphic health warnings and pictorials.
- Ban on display at point-of-sale; and
- The regulation and control of electronic nicotine delivery systems and non-nicotine delivery systems.
September 05, 2023 by clivebates.com
South Africa’s self-harming anti-vaping legislation
South Africa’s parliament is scrutinising new tobacco and nicotine legislation that would throttle harm reduction approaches for its citizens. South Africa has a high prevalence of smoking (25.8% – see chart), especially among men, and low rates of vape use (2.2%). Yet the legislation is designed to obstruct South African citizens from switching from high-risk cigarettes to low-risk vape products. Why is there such hostility to a strategy that could work especially well in South Africa? Harm reduction relies on consumers and producers acting in their own interests and at their own expense to radically reduce disease risks and improve their welfare and wellbeing. [...]
September 01, 2023 by biomedcentral.com
Exploring electronic cigarette portrayals: a content and thematic analysis of African online news coverage
Electronic cigarette use has surged internationally in recent years, with numerous countries noting an uptick in users. Despite this, the portrayal of e-cigarette usage in African news remains unclear. This research investigates the subject, employing a mixed-methodology approach. The study units were news articles on electronic cigarette use retrieved from AllAfrica, an online African news archive. [...]
August 30, 2023 by businesstech.co.za
Big fight brewing over ‘irrational’ smoking and vaping laws in South Africa
While all parties agree smoking and vaping should be regulated in South Africa, a significant industry player is contesting the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill in its current form. Multinational tobacco company Philip Morris South Africa (PMSA) is pushing back strongly against the bill, saying that’s proposed laws lack nuance and scientific justification – to the extent that they are irrational.
August 10, 2023 by southafricatoday.net
Impact of the Conference of Parties (COP) on tobacco control in South Africa
The 10th Conference of the Parties (COP) convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) will be taking place in November 2023 to discuss the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The COP will discuss updates to the approach taken by member states in implementing the FCTC. “It is an appropriate time for leaders in South Africa and elsewhere to indicate the inappropriate stance of WHO and regulators in not supporting the use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDs),” says award-winning pharmacological healthcare consultant, Professor Praneet Valodia. “The WHO has an obligation to support smokers and save lives.”
August 03, 2023 by theconversation.com
South Africa’s new vaping tax won’t deter young smokers
Throughout the world, governments impose excise taxes on products like alcohol and tobacco to reduce their demand. The South African government has implemented a tax on vaping products for the same reason. Reducing demand is necessary as there is growing evidence that vaping products are not harmless. The new vaping tax has enraged vaping lobby groups and vaping manufacturers. The vaping industry argues that e-cigarettes are less harmful than traditional cigarettes. It also claims that the tax will spawn an illicit industry, that people will go back to smoking traditional cigarettes, and the tax will not dissuade the youth from starting vaping.
July 27, 2023 by msn.com
Smokers cough up 50% to 80% more in life insurance premiums
The new Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill, which is intended to further regulate the smoking industry, is open for public comment – but how many smokers consider the financial impact of their habits?
First, there’s the actual expense in your grocery budget – a pack of 20 Peter Stuyvesant Red cigarettes cost R46. If you smoke a pack a day, that works out to R322 a week – R1,288 to R1,610 a month. According to Momentum Myriad in 2020, a smoker’s life insurance premium was as much as 80% more than that of a non-smoker.