Pretoria woman mobilises country to protest against tobacco and alcohol ban
Protesters would be wearing masks and maintain social distancing as they demonstrate for “basic human rights”.
A Pretoria woman has called on all South Africans to mobilise and protest against the ban of tobacco products and alcohol.
Nania van Der Merwe has gone on social media to launch a peaceful protest for Friday, 15 May at 12:00 all across South Africa to ask government to lift the ban on the sale of cigarettes and alcohol.
Van der Merwe said every town would select a central public place where protesters wearing masks and maintaining social distancing would demonstrate for “their basic human rights”.
“Their right to work and earn a living, to buy cigarettes and alcohol at normal prices legally, to live a free live where you do not get arrested for standing still, or selling coffee at your deli that has a permit to be open for business,” she said.
“Their right to be treated with dignity by their country’s law enforcement.”
She said the decision to place the country under lockdown was welcomed by many as there was a need to flatten the curve of the spread of Covid-19.
“But we were in the same breath aware that this virus will not simply just disappear, this was just to prepare ourselves, our workplaces and public places for safety measures to be put in place,” she said.
After seeing and hearing many complaints by people, Van der Merwe decided that she was organising a protest against the governments’ “communist actions and oppression” of the people of South Africa.
“Before the lockdown, a carton of cigarettes, for instance, had cost R400. At the present stage, the same cigarettes are now being sold illegally between R1 400 and R1 800 per carton,” she said.
“Now, before everybody starts jumping up and down, my reason for initiating the protest action was originally to force the government to lift the ban on cigarettes and alcohol and allowing people to go back to work.”
She said with many people being retrenched and some having to take salary cuts, the government justification of protecting people’s health by banning tobacco products and alcohol was not good enough reason.
“Nkosasana Dlamini-Zuma has obviously never been a smoker, because for us smokers, our smokes are our smokes. Now people with only a 25% or 50% income must not only buy everyday products that was being price hiked by shops, but must also pay up to four times the amount to have a drink or a cigarette.”
Van Der Merwe said the mental impact the ban had on smokers’ and alcohol consumers’ health was detrimental.
She said Nicotine withdrawal symptoms included depression, anxiety, fever, coughing and insomnia.
“And in severe cases, carcinogenic shock that causes heart failure or stroke,” she said.
“Now, imagine 10 million smokers and however many drinkers, just suddenly have to stop.”
“People in South Africa are scared, angry, depressed and extremely stressed about their incomes and where their next meal will be coming from. Now you tell them they cannot smoke – what exactly do the government think is going to happen?”
She said the protest in Pretoria would take place at Maine Street, Menlyn.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo said police have not approached by the organisers for a permit for a gathering.
“As a result, in order to enforce the compliance of regulations, any gathering will be stopped and dispersed by the authorities,” he said.
“No gathering is allowed during this period of the pandemic.”
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