WATCH: Smokers take a stand (sort of)
Approximately 50 cars, each transporting a maximum of three people, took a slow drive from the Hillfox Value Centre on Hendrik Potgieter Road to the Gillooly's Interchange in protest.
Smokers throughout South Africa braced the winter cold today, 8 July, to take a stand against the ban on tobacco sales in South Africa. Since the start of the coronavirus lockdown at the end of March, smokers have been unable to legally buy any products containing nicotine.
Up in arms, the hundreds of thousands of smokers in the country have decided that they are tired of not being heard. Several Facebook and WhatsApp groups have been created during the lockdown for smokers to stand in solidarity and refine their plans to make themselves heard. Petitions to have the country’s government lift the ban have also been circulating, with one of the most popular petitions having more than 650 000 signatures. One of the peaceful, country-wide protests was held in Roodepoort.
Watch here:
Approximately 50 cars, each transporting a maximum of three people, took a slow drive from the Hillfox Value Centre on Hendrik Potgieter Road to the Gillooly’s Interchange in protest. At 7am, protesters gathered at Hillfox, clad in colourful clothing with banners of rebellion attached to the sides of their cars. The protesters in their cars were joined by a number of bike riders before they lit their cigarettes, set off on their drive, honking their hooters the entire way.
The protesters refer to themselves as “Law Abiding Criminals,” spreading the hashtag #SmokersUnited as far and wide as they can; but has their cause still gone unnoticed? While the protesters are proud of what they have done, many people are not so convinced that their actions are bearing fruit. Residents have been hearing about the planned protests for weeks and have been left disappointed with the outcomes. One of the members of the Smokers Against Lockdown Group had this to say: “My husband and I are actually in the protest and we didn’t even know. This was nothing more than ordinary JHB traffic.”
Many smokers on the group shared this member’s sentiments, saying that more of an impact needs to be made if they want to be heard. Other group members shared their happiness that the protesters had at least tried, and said they were proud of those who attended, wishing they could have been there themselves.
Whether or not people believe these protests will yield the results they want, smokers still share their common purpose: getting the smoking ban lifted.
One of the group leaders of the Hillfox protest was Carlos Alves. He expressed the mental exhaustion and frustration of smokers everywhere and the desperate need for the government to lift the ban.
