Will new smoking laws be effective?
2 September 2009, 09:54
Dasen Thathiah and Melissa Mungroo
Some Durban restaurant owners fear stricter anti-smoking laws will have a negative impact on their businesses.
Smoking in partially enclosed areas of restaurants, pubs and bars - such as covered patios, verandas, balconies, walkways and parking areas - is now illegal and could see owners being fined R50 000 for breaching the laws.
The individual smoker will be fined R500, says the National Council Against Smoking.
Restaurateurs in the greater Durban area have expressed concern about the increased fines. Spiga d'Oro owner Sergio Santoniccolo said the law was unfair and the government should be focusing on other crimes.
"The government should be worrying about people who are drinking and driving, not smoking. They are choosing us as soft targets. At the end of the day, we pay tax and now we have to pay such fines," he said.
Read the full story in today's edition of Daily News
Some Durban restaurant owners fear stricter anti-smoking laws will have a negative impact on their businesses.
Smoking in partially enclosed areas of restaurants, pubs and bars - such as covered patios, verandas, balconies, walkways and parking areas - is now illegal and could see owners being fined R50 000 for breaching the laws.
The individual smoker will be fined R500, says the National Council Against Smoking.
Restaurateurs in the greater Durban area have expressed concern about the increased fines. Spiga d'Oro owner Sergio Santoniccolo said the law was unfair and the government should be focusing on other crimes.
"The government should be worrying about people who are drinking and driving, not smoking. They are choosing us as soft targets. At the end of the day, we pay tax and now we have to pay such fines," he said.
Pretoria
