Dear Mr President and Cabinet Ministers of South Africa,
It has been 100 days. In that time, 11 million law-abiding South Africans have been turned into criminals.
Today marks 100 days since you first banned the sale of tobacco and vaping products. South Africa has been bleeding ever since while criminals in the illegal trade have reaped the rewards.
Whole communities have been torn apart as the ban has extinguished livelihoods that sustain thousands of families across the nation.
It’s not just about the lost jobs, it’s what those jobs mean for the future of our nation.
The pain has echoed from the tobacco fields of Limpopo to the spaza shops of Soweto, Umlazi and the Cape Flats. Proud factory workers, truck drivers and store staff are being denied the ability to put bread on the table, shoes on the feet of their children, schoolbooks in their bags and a safe roof over their heads.
With the stroke of a pen, 11 million previously law-abiding smokers and vapers have been turned into criminals. Petty criminals who must deal with hardened criminals every day.
Our national spirit of ubuntu has been fractured. At a time of our greatest need in this COVID-19 crisis, South Africans young and old are being told that hard work, paying tax and contributing to the nation does not pay. But crime does.
The national purse has been denied R3.5 BILLION in excise taxes already. At a time when every last cent is desperately needed.
Money that is meant to help build a better nation for all has instead filled the pockets of these billionaire criminals in the illegal trade. Their corrupt enterprises have thrived beyond their wildest dreams while honest, hard-working citizens have had their hopes crushed.
It has been 100 days, but South Africa – the only major nation in the world with a tobacco and vaping ban – cannot afford for this to last a single day longer.
We humbly request that you put an end to this painful prohibition.
Let South Africans do the right thing for their families and the country.
# TheBanMustFall
Yours sincerely,