The government received more than 2 000 submissions about the proposal to end the moratorium.
Rene Vollgraaff, Bloomberg / 30 April 2020 10:50
Image: Suzanne Plunkett/Bloomberg News
South Africa’s ban on tobacco gives cabinet minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma an opportunity to complete a crusade she began more than two decades ago: to stop people smoking.
Dlamini-Zuma, a medical doctor and former health minister, on Wednesday vehemently defended the government’s reversal of its decision to allow the sale of tobacco products when a five-week nationwide lockdown eases on Friday. The shutdown, one of the strictest in the world, outlawed the sale of alcohol and cigarettes and President Cyril Ramaphosa had said April 23 restrictions on tobacco would be relaxed.
The government received more than 2 000 submissions about the proposal to end the moratorium, and the decision to retain it is health-related, Dlamini-Zuma said. She cited the effects of tobacco on human lungs, and said “the way tobacco is shared does not allow for social distancing,” and encourages the spread of the virus.
“When people zol, they put saliva on the paper, and then they share that zol,” Dlamini-Zuma said, using a local term for hand-rolled cigarettes that sometimes contain cannabis.
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