This thesis investigates the individual and household variables that influence the smoking onset decision. The data was drawn from wave 1 of the National Income Dynamics Study of 2008 and was tested using survival analysis. The NIDs survey is a nationally representative survey of 7301 households in South Africa. Based on the international literature and the constraints of the NIDs survey, I investigated the following potential determinants of smoking onset: age, gender, population group, price of cigarettes, geographic location (urban/rural), socio-economic status of parents, whether the respondent’s mother was alive when the respondent was aged 15 or not, literacy, parents’ smoking behaviour, respondent’s alcohol consumption and tobacco control legislation.