The Department of Health’s Belated Concession about Vaping Offers Hope, But There is Still Some Way to Go

The belated concession by the Department of Health (DoH) that tobacco and vaping are not the same and should be treated differently in legislation is a welcome development. Appearing before the Portfolio Committee on Health on 25 February 2026, the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi finally conceded that the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill would require some amendments to differentiate between smoking and vaping, which could result in material changes to provisions related to packaging, health warnings and retail display.

Since 2018, the vaping industry has continuously advocated for government to recognise harm reduction in regulating nicotine products. While the DoH still seems unwilling to concede that nicotine itself is not the cause of major smoking related harm, it is encouraging that there has been a shift in the zero-sum mentality of the Department which would have condemned millions of smokers to the harmful consequences of smoking.

In truth, the DoH has not changed its mind about vaping, but the reality that South African Parliamentary democracy was altered irrevocably when the African National Congress lost its majority in Parliament after the 2024 general elections, has meant that the railroading of legislation by the ANC and ignoring opposition is a thing of the past. Where previously the government could dictate policy and legislation outcomes, the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU) means no single party has the determining voice about policy direction. Policy decisions are now subject to negotiation, which increases the burden on policy sponsors to substantiate their policy proposals based on scientific evidence and proper modelling of outcomes.

The Tobacco Bill as proposed was never going to succeed in dealing with South Africa’s nicotine addiction problems. As many opposition parties have pointed out through the legislative process, the legislation as it stands is thoroughly lacking in scientific evidence to support its intended outcomes. For instance, the Bill pretends that tobacco harm reduction is a tobacco industry ruse meant to mislead policymakers, despite credible evidence from several countries that it has achieved success in reducing smoking rates.

On the other hand, the Bill romanticises the Australian experience with plain packaging without providing the caveat that Australia is an island with robust law enforcement, capable of dealing with illicit trade, all things being equal. This is notwithstanding that illicit players now dominate the Australian tobacco market due to other misguided policy interventions, which, taken together with plain packaging, have handed the market to organised crime. With illicit trade accounting for about 70% of South Africa’s tobacco market, provisions such as plain packaging would effectively hand what is left of the market to illicit players and work against the intentions of the bill.

As Parliament moves towards the line-by-line scrutinisation of the bill, it is important for all political parties in the National Assembly to remind themselves that South Africa’s smoking problem requires sober analysis, undiluted by the personal feelings and experiences of legislators. Similarly, Parliament must remind itself that the Department of Health has a very clear history of selective and blinkered policy making. Ultimately, success is not going to be achieved through good intentions. It will take painstaking work to understand how the bill will be implemented amidst the socio-economic realities of South Africa, unencumbered by the expectations of the World Health Organisation and other non-state actors who have a single-minded focus on the adoption of their sponsored tobacco control policies regardless of their shortcomings.

It is worth pointing out that the vaping industry cannot wait for some regulation of vaping in South Africa to protect young people; however, such regulation must be based on science and with the intention of assisting tobacco smokers in kicking the deadly habit.