Johannesburg - Tax Justice South Africa on Sunday came out in support of an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Cabinet in which tobacco industry players and retail outlets highlight the "devastation" caused by the 100-day coronavirus lockdown tobacco ban and urge #TheBanMustFall.
“The ban is backfired badly. It has not stopped people smoking, but instead has driven them to the black market where organised corrupt networks are making billions [of rand]," he said. “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,” the letter said.