ENCA duo apologise for cigarette ban remarks
News anchors Xoli Mngambi and Jane Dutton issued an apology yesterday for comments made during an eNCA news broadcast that implied that Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma had undermined President Cyril Ramaphosa’s authority when banning the sale of cigarettes during Level 4 of the national Covid-19 lockdown.
On Monday morning, Mngambi and Dutton said in a “very public show of force” Dlamini-Zuma showed “who’s controlling South Africa’s narrative right now – not the president, but ... Dlamini-Zuma”.
“How? She used her power and considerable influence to ensure the ban on cigarettes would continue,” Dutton said at the beginning of the 7am broadcast.
“Why did she do that?” Mngambi continued. “It is because the president is particularly popular right now, or is it a reminder that the party politics at Luthuli House – the rivalry there – is still very much at play.”
Dutton added: “While Cyril Ramaphosa has been publicly emasculated, we the public have been duped.”
Mngambi then said South Africa is becoming a “police state under the control of renegade ministers and the security forces”.
Dutton then asks how Ramaphosa would be able to overcome the economic challenges and lead the country if he can’t “deal with something like this”. She said: “Our president now needs to take back ... power. Is he up to it?”
Ramaphosa recently announced the country would exit the lockdown in a phased manner, saying cigarettes, which were banned during Level 5, would be allowed to be sold during Level 4, which came into effect on Friday.
However, when Dlamini-Zuma announced the regulations for Level 4 on Wednesday, smokers’ hopes that they would soon light up a legally obtained cigarette went up in flames.
In an about-turn, she said the sale of tobacco products was still banned under Level 4 regulations. This had led to speculation that Ramaphosa may have been undermined by his political opponents in the ANC.
However, Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu tweeted on Friday: “The NCC [National Command Council] changed its own view on the selling of tobacco on Level 4 of the lockdown , which was pronounced by the president.”
Ramaphosa has come out in defence of Dlamini-Zuma following days of attacks levelled against her over the U-turn on the ban on cigarettes sales. In his weekly newsletter, Ramaphosa wrote that the NCC took a “collective decision” on the matter.
The comments made by Mngambi and Dutton drew widespread criticism.
– News24 Wire