National Informal Traders Alliance of South Africa excluded from Tobacco Bill hearings

The National Informal Traders Alliance of South Africa (NITASA), representing more than two million informal traders across the country, has condemned its exclusion from the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health’s virtual oral hearings on the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill (Tobacco Bill). 

It says this undermines the principle of participatory democracy and silences the very communities most affected by it.

The hearings on the Tobacco Bill, which have been running since March 2025, concluded last week.

NITASA made a written submission on the Tobacco Bill in 2023, and wrote to the Committee this year to request an opportunity to make an oral presentation during the public hearings. The Committee agreed and allocated a date, only to be later uninvited on the basis that NITASA had not included a request to present orally in its 2023 submission. 

Rosheda Muller, National Chairperson of NITASA, says: “South Africa’s democracy is founded on public participation. Excluding stakeholders because of a technicality, such as not ticking a box in a 2023 written submission, is unconstitutional and discriminatory. Informal traders deserve to be heard before Parliament passes laws that will destroy their livelihoods.”

NITASA has called on the Portfolio Committee on Health to urgently correct this "injustice", reopen the hearings to excluded stakeholders, and recommit to a transparent and inclusive legislative process.

“This is not only about NITASA, it is about millions of informal traders across South Africa who depend on this trade for survival. Our voices are being deliberately shut out. My understanding is that there were many tens of thousands of written submissions made on the Bill, and only 48 oral submissions were made to the committee.

"I doubt that the committee members have had the time to read all of those written submissions, or ever will, so the oral hearing process is very important. In addition, media are present at those oral hearings, which is critical for ensuring that the public are aware of the laws being developed on their behalf by their public representatives,” said Muller.

NITASA’s position on the Tobacco Bill is that it does not promote the use of tobacco products or smoking, but believes that legislation needs to be drafted in a way that takes into account the impact that it will have on all sectors of society.  

 Muller said it is important to understand that cigarettes are a key product for informal traders, especially single cigarettes. Almost 100% of all cigarette sales in the informal trade are single cigarettes.

“When someone stops at a table top seller or spaza shop to buy a cigarette, they often buy other products, so it’s an important part of what we sell. The sale of tobacco products is critical to the survival and livelihoods of informal traders, who mostly live hand to mouth, without savings or resources to fall back on. If this Bill becomes law it is going to devastate the informal trade.”

NITASA’s key concerns with the Tobacco Bill include:

• It introduces a ban on the sale of single cigarettes. This ban effectively criminalises the lifeblood of the informal trade, threatening traders with up to 10 years in prison for selling single cigarettes. People buy one cigarette because they can either only afford one, or only want one.  Forcing them to buy a full packet may cause them to smoke more than what they normally do. The Bill does not use the words “ban on single cigarettes.” However, Clause 4(3)(c) clearly requires that no tobacco product may be sold unless it is in an intact package of the prescribed quantity. This effectively bans the sale of single cigarettes, which obviously cannot be sold in an intact package.
• The ban will drive up the illicit tobacco trade which currently sits at 70%. For years NITASA has been advocating against illicit tobacco products. The reality on the ground is that people will buy whatever is available, so when legal cigarettes are not allowed to be sold in singles, people will default to the brands that they can afford, driving up the illicit market. 
• NITASA is also opposed to the Bill’s banning of the display of all tobacco products.  This might be reasonable to expect from a large, formal sector retail store, which has the resources to build cupboards and expensive cabinets, but not for informal traders, who have no place to hide these products.  If a table top seller leaves a packet or even a single cigarette on their table, they can be imprisoned for 10 years.
• The Bill contains other unworkable provisions. It would hold traders liable if someone smokes in a public space near their stall. If they fail to stop that person, they could face up to five years in prison and fines. Such measures don’t make sense, and they open the door to harassment and corruption of vulnerable traders by enforcement officials.

NITASA believes there are better ways to protect the public while still protecting the livelihoods of an essential part of the economy, informal traders. 

“We have been a strong voice for the use of education over the years, and still believe that this is the best way to address smoking. Laws must be developed with the input from the communities they affect, especially when they risk deepening inequality or driving trade underground. The informal trade feeds, clothes and educates millions of South African families. The Tobacco Bill threatens this reality.”

SUNDAY TRIBUNE