Signs of hope for locked down smokers?

‘Even myself, I’d forgotten about skyf that people smoke together … how people put saliva on their zol and then they share. So these things came from the public, showing the dangers of smoking. In the way people smoke, especially the poor, it would really create a very fertile ground for the virus to spread.’

– Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma announcing that the ban on tobacco products would continue.

Only in South Africa! Where else, after all, could the former wife of an ex-President (who is awaiting trial on graft charges), spark the biggest furore in the country’s five-week lockdown by backtracking on her own President’s commitment to lift the ban on tobacco sales? For the record, notes Legalbrief, almost all countries that have implemented social lockdowns – including the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Russia, the US and Italy – have permitted the sale of tobacco products. Not only has Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s about-turn outraged 11m smokers (and millions of other non-smokers), it has drawn attention to the fact that her political campaign (against Cyril Ramaphosa) was partly funded by an alleged illicit tobacco kingpin and that her former step-son has been linked to an enormous consignment of ‘illicit’ cigarettes during the lockdown.

British American Tobacco SA, the largest player in the country's cigarette market, yesterday said it will not be pursuing legal action in an attempt to force the state to permit the sale of cigarettes. The company described government's decision to continue the ban on the sale of tobacco products under level four restrictions as ‘bizarre and irregular’. ‘We have taken the decision not to pursue legal action at this stage but, instead, to pursue further discussions with government on the formulation and application of the regulations under the Covid-19 lockdown,’ it said in a statement. A report on the Fin24 site notes that it said it has received a response to a letter sent at the end of April to the National Coronavirus Command Council, and was ‘convinced that by working together we can find a better solution’.

Ramaphosa has hailed Dlamini-Zuma and applauded Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, saying the WHO sees 'a shining example of how countries should have responded to the challenge of Covid-19'. A HeraldLIVE report notes that Ramaphosa said Mkhize's appointment of Prof Salim Abdool Karim was also 'amazing'. 'The important thing is that we have relied on science. We haven’t been flying by the seat of our pants and thumb sucking everything,' he said. On Dlamini-Zuma, Ramaphosa applauded the managing of the state of disaster, led by her. 'In terms of managing the whole state of disaster, Minister Dlamini-Zuma has also positioned us very well, from a leadership perspective,' he added. Legalbrief reports that Ramaphosa has also addressed the about-turn on the tobacco ban, saying 'the regulations we have put in place are founded on that commitment to life and dignity, and which justify – in these extreme circumstances – temporary restrictions on other rights, like freedom of movement and association.'

Legalbrief reports that SARS commissioner Edward Kieswetter on Tuesday told Parliamentarians that cigarettes were still being bought and sold illicitly despite the lockdown. It’s a view shared by veteran investigative journalist Jacques Pauw who says there are plenty of cigarettes available in his hometown of Riebeck Kasteel, ‘but they are brands you’ve never heard of and most of them have been smuggled in from neighbouring countries’. In an interview on Cape Talk, he suggested that there could be a more sinister plot behind the continued cigarette ban. Pauw, the author of The President's Keepers, says Dlamini-Zuma's decision has no rational basis and can be viewed as a political move. ‘We have to look at politics ... We all know in which camp Dlamini-Zuma is. There is a nexus between her and Ace Magashule and even the EFF.’ He claims the cigarette ban could be motivated by Dlamini-Zuma's reported ties to alleged illicit tobacco kingpin Adriano Mazzotti. Mazzotti allegedly funded her presidential campaign to succeed her ex-husband back in 2017. Pauw claims the illicit cigarette trade is booming in SA, including brands under Mazzotti's cigarette company, Carnilinx.

Meanwhile, Zuma’s eldest son, Edward, has been linked to an enormous consignment of ‘illicit’ cigarettes police seized in Edenvale last week. A report on The Citizen site notes that the brands are registered and manufactured by Amalgamated Tobacco Manufacturing (ATM) which lists Yusuf Kajee as its current director. A Moneyweb investigation has shown Zuma to have a close business relationship with Kajee. Zuma is listed as a former director of ATM. Police confiscated 807 ‘master cases of cigarettes’ as well as 97 other ‘half-master boxes’ at the warehouse. A report on The Citizen site notes that a single master case contains 10 000 cigarettes. Numerous sources allege that ATM is run by Kajee in association with Zuma and that a portion of the company is held by businessman Paul de Robillard.

In a separate case, three people have been arrested in Lenasia, Johannesburg, after allegedly offering R30 000 to get out of being caught selling cigarettes during the lockdown. A report on the News24 site notes that Gauteng Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko said the Soweto Flying Squad was tipped off about the sale of cigarettes at a premises. The three foreign nationals were placed under arrest and all the cigarette boxes were confiscated.

The ban does have its supporters. The WHO, in a joint statement with several research and civil society organisations, said the ban will relieve the burden of severe cases of Covid-19 on the health system, notes a Business Day report. ‘Emerging research shows that people who use tobacco products are more likely to experience severe Covid-19 outcomes, which will have an impact on the health system and healthcare workers. ‘They are more likely to require mechanical ventilators, ICU and are more likely to die,’ said the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the WHO, the Human Sciences Research Council, the National Council Against Smoking, the SA Medical Research Council, the Cancer Association of SA, Africa Centre for Tobacco Industry Monitoring and Policy Research and the Heart and Stroke Foundation SA. They also claimed e-cigarettes have been linked to lung damage and cardiovascular disease, and smokers with Covid-19 are more likely to develop severe disease than non-smokers.