President Cyril Ramaphosa at the weekend announced that the whole of South Africa will move to lockdown Level 3 on 1 June. Ramaphosa also announced the selling of alcohol would be allowed under strict rules, however the ban on tobacco products will remain under lockdown level 3. The continued ban of tobacco products has led to outcries from some sections of society especially as alcohol will be allowed to be sold under Level 3 of the lockdown.

Subsequently, the government is currently facing court action from an organisation called the Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (Fita).  Fita chairperson Sinen Mnguni said Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Dlamini Zuma has stated that many health benefits motivated the ban on the sale of tobacco, but the association has not received a single reason.

“We have attempted to engage with government to at least get some insight into what is going on but government has to date refused to engage with industry,” said Mnguni.

Mnguni said the continued ban on tobacco products came as a shock.

“It came as a big surprise particularly after government had stated that they would not allow the sale of alcohol during the lockdown due to the fact that it is one of the highest catalysts in the spread of the coronavirus,” described Mnguni.

Mnguni said what is most concerning and defying to the economy is that smokers are still able to procure cigarettes in illicit sales of tobacco products.

“We know that the University of Cape Town found that of the 11 million found that 90% of them were still able to access cigarettes, so what we have said to government is that the ban itself has not stopped people from smoking but what they are doing is affecting the livelihood of many who rely on the legitimate tobacco industry for a living,” stated Mnguni.

He reiterated that the illegal sales of cigarettes ultimately will affect tax.

“The ban is going to result in people buying cigarettes from illegal traders and that will amount in the government losing further than the R6 billion that the state was losing due to the ban prior to the lockdown,” explained Mnguni.

Mnguni said it was unfortunate that law officials do not have enough manpower to ensure that illegal cigarettes are not sold.

“The problem that we know is that our criminal justice system is strained. There is not much that can be done. Our borders remain porous. We know that the SANDF on the border between Zimbabwe and South Africa stated that they are overwhelmed and they cannot police this particular issue to its full capacity,” said Mnguni.

Furthermore, Dlamini Zuma has denied being friends with cigarette trader Adriano Mazzotti. Dlamini Zuma was briefing Parliament’s National Council of Provinces earlier today. She used her response to deny links to Mazzotti.

Mnguni further debunked the rumours that Mziwoxolo Edward Zuma was also involved in the illicit trade of cigarettes.

“Those are just rumors and there is no truth to that, whatsoever. I can say with conviction that Edward Zuma is in no way involved in the tobacco industry at all,” detailed Mnguni.

The government has been ordered to hand over documents to Fita by this afternoon spelling out the reasoning behind the continued ban.

VOC