The impact of the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act, 1999 (Act no. 12 of 1999) on the performance of librarians employed by the City of Cape Town :Tygerberg Administration

Abstract

The World Health Organisation (WHO) presented evidence illustrating that tobacco smoking kills three million people yearly. These statistics are increasing, and unless current trends are reversed by the decade 2020-2030, tobacco will kill 10 million people a year, with 70% of deaths occurring in developing countries (WHO, 1998:1). The WHO then issued a mandate to 191 countries, which included South Africa, requesting them to write, advocate, pass and enforce laws on tobacco control taking into account work and public places, as people tend to spend much time there (WHO,20031-2). According to the literature review, since the promulgation of the Tobacco Act. 1999 (12 of 1999) public officials have been leaving the office much more regularly to congregate with other smokers for a smoke break. This is because legislation stipulates that they may not smoke in the office. It has also been found that the public service delivery process is slow, not only as a result of the phenomenon of smokerism, but also due to staff shortages. Hence, the main purpose of this study was to explore the impact of the Tobacco Act. 1999 (Act No.12 of 1999) on the performance of librarians employed by the City of Cape Town's Library and Information Services: Tygerberg Administration, by focusing on answering two assumptions stating that service delivery is slow and inefficient because of smoke breaks; and that the performance of staff is poor as a result of regular smoke breaks. The research population for this study consisted of 23 out of the 26 librarians-in charge employed in the City of Cape Town's Library and Information Services: Tygerberg Administration, who is the entire target population. The respondents were interviewed using a self-administered questionnaire. The data collected was analysed using software called StatPac for Windows. The results derived indicated that the librarians-in-charge (82.6%) are satisfied with the service delivery offered by their employees. This is regardless of the regular smoke breaks employees take and the grievances of non-smoking employees with regard to the regular smoke breaks taken. However, the Iibrarians-in-charge (91.3%) added that there was room for improvement in terms of dealing with the staff shortages and not the regular smoke breaks. Therefore, based on the findings, the assumptions that relate to this study are discovered to be invalid and untrue. Thus, the Tobacco Act. 1999 (12 of 1999) does not impact on the performance of librarians employed by the City of Cape Town's Library Services, Tygerberg Administration. The following recommendations were formulated: Management should consider taking on volunteers to address the staff shortage situation. Management should motivate employees with any kind of special rewards, remuneration and credentials for work well done. The Director of Social Development and Community Services of the City of Cape Town, Tygerberg Administration, should review the salary structure of librarians and consider increasing it. Both the librarians-in-charge and employees should be educated about the Tobacco Act, 1999 (12 of 1999). This education should also consist of the importance smoking restrictions have in terms of promoting a healthy environment, smoking cessation and job satisfaction. The librarians-in-charge should understand the negative ramifications the lack of rewards, credentials and salary have on job satisfaction. Team-building exercises should be done on a regular basis to strengthen the relationship between employees.