Apology to Mazzotti

In “Smokes: how CR burnt his fingers” and “Trio on hook for Cyril’s misstep” (May 10), we referred to Adriano Mazzotti as an illicit cigarette trader who had allegedly bankrolled Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s campaign to become ANC president in 2017. We failed to reflect that Mazzotti has denied being an illicit cigarette dealer or funding Dlamini-Zuma’s campaign. Mazzotti has pointed out he is a founder member of Fita, which supports the stance against the tobacco sales ban and illicit tobacco trade. We apologise for the omission and for not affording Mazzotti a right of reply