CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) – The message was dropped on a WhatsApp group used by suburban mothers in South Africa. In the midst of complaints about homeschooling during the closure, a mother got off the topic: “Does anyone know where to get illegal cigarettes? I just need some. I’m desperate.”
She emphasized her distress with an emoji, a face with bulging eyes and a hanging tongue.
The “desperate mom,” as she described herself, is one of 9 million smokers in South Africa affected by the government’s decision in late March to ban the sale of all tobacco products, apparently to help protect the citizens’ health during the coronavirus pandemic. The ban remains in place even after South Africa eased most of its stringent blocking restrictions, including another controversial ban on alcohol sales.
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 are increasing rapidly in Africa’s most developed economy. But that economy is suffering, and now restaurants, cinemas, and even casinos will reopen. And allowing people to buy alcohol again has led to an increase in drunken fights and car accidents, putting additional pressure on hospitals as they deal with the virus. However, it is still illegal to buy a pack of cigarettes.
“It doesn’t make sense,” said Sinenhlanhla Mnguni, president of the Independent Fair Trade Tobacco Association, which represents smaller manufacturers. The association challenged the ban in court and lost. Another case, with global industry giant British American Tobacco taking the government to court, has started.
South Africa is the only country in the world that has banned the sale of tobacco after India and Botswana raised theirs.
The government says it prioritizes the health of its people as respiratory disease spreads. But although the World Health Organization recommends that people quit smoking during the pandemic, it says there is no scientific evidence to show that smokers are more susceptible to COVID-19.
The government has been widely criticized for failing to publish the science it trusted.
That demonstrated a government attitude of “just do what we say, we know better,” said Joleen Steyn Kotze, an expert on democracy and governance in South Africa. She warned that a lack of transparency could foster general mistrust when the government needs citizens more than ever to cooperate.
The ban, which prohibits the sale of tobacco but not the act of smoking, has some support.
“There are good reasons for people to quit smoking, and especially now at COVID-19,” said Catherine Egbe, a scientist with the South African Medical Research Council on Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Unit. She agrees with the ban on the grounds that COVID-19 “primarily affects the respiratory system.”
South African smokers have two options, none pleasant: going to cold Turkey in a time of high stress. Or, like the desperate mother, go criminal. With the ban comes smuggling, often with links to organized crime.
Removed from all major outlets, cigarettes have become South Africa’s most wanted illicit drug, more profitable than cocaine and heroin, some analysts say.
Cigarettes hidden in grocery bags are pushed through the counter at corner stores. Young men display packages on the sidewalks. A nod in your direction and even a cigarette to temporarily avoid withdrawal symptoms are available.
It comes at a high price. Sometimes $ 11 for a box of 20 cigarettes that cost $ 1.70 before closing. Some brands are smuggled into the country, others are little known, local labels on the bottom shelf, but they will. There’s even a VIP service if you make phone contact with illicit sellers. For $ 350 you will receive 200 cigarettes in your home, one promises, so you can avoid the risk of running into the police. They normally cost around $ 20.
Supporters of the ban say there has been some success in getting people to quit, or at least quit. But a survey of more than 12,000 smokers by the University of Cape Town found that 90% of them illegally purchased cigarettes during the shutdown.
Mnguni said it was “absurd” to think that smokers would suddenly give up. He fears that smokers now familiar with the sources of smuggling may keep them when the ban is lifted and illicit cigarettes become cheaper again.
The repercussions for the economy are already being felt. The tobacco industry contributes almost $ 100 million a month in excise duties paid to the South African government, regardless of jobs and livelihoods.
The fate of a legendary tobacco shop, a fixture in Cape Town’s historic central square since 1793 and which had survived two centuries of challenges, has reinforced the new reality. Unable to negotiate for months, she packed up and moved, her future is uncertain.
Economist Mike Schussler knew that it would always be difficult for South Africa’s economy, which was in recession before the pandemic.
“But we could have made it a little easier by not banning things like cigarettes and liquor,” he said.
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AP journalist Mogomotsi Magome in Johannesburg contributed.
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Follow the coverage of the AP pandemic at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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