Up in smoke: Dlamini-Zuma’s ‘illegal cigarette’ connection resurfaces

Millions of South Africans were looking forward to the return of a small pleasure on Friday. Instead, many are set to suffer for a few more weeks at least. The controversial u-turn on cigarette sales – which will now stay banned from supermarket shelves – has left a sour taste in the mouth. And Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is facing the brunt of the criticism.

However, the COGTA minister finds herself in the public and political crosshairs for reasons that go beyond the superficial. Her alleged past dealings with the illegal tobacco trade and its representatives have resurfaced.

Level 4 lockdown: The logic doesn’t add up

Level 4 of lockdown brings in a number of eased regulations. South Africans can order takeaways, and exercise during a three-hour gap from Friday. But businesses remain stifled, and personal liberties have been compromised. The reasoning for extending the booze ban is pretty laughable, too…

“Crime has come down since we banned alcohol”, the minister crowed on Wednesday. The audacity to pin all of South Africa’s ills on the drinkers amongst us is, at best, a disingenuous attempt to push an insidious agenda. Crime is down because no-one has been allowed to go anywhere. It’s that simple.

There’s also the argument that the alcohol ban needs to be kept in place because it helps keep our ER rooms quieter. It’s been revealed recently that admissions are significantly down. But even that claim is superfluous.

Closing bars, shebeens and taverns – while banning things like house parties and get-togethers – was always going to narrow the scope of injuries. This shouldn’t be grounds to stop people cracking beers in their homes.

Ministers behaving badly

But this has been the overarching theme since lockdown began. We’ve seen a number of ministers play by their own rules. Fikile Mbalula has acquiesced the taxi industry. Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has flouted lockdown laws. Bheki Cele, meanwhile, has got himself in far more trouble than a police chief should ever find themselves in.

And Dlamini-Zuma, seemingly, has had an influence on the prohibition of cigarettes. President Ramaphosa said last week that our ciggies would be available during Level 4. Without warning, NDZ announced that this would no longer be the case, citing “2 000 submissions” which opposed lifting the ban – a number far smaller than that of pro-smoking South Africans, who perhaps didn’t realise they were being hoodwinked.

When Dlamini-Zuma met Mazzotti

Dlamini-Zuma has created a massive problem for herself, here. In 2017, she was accused of working closely with corrupt cigarette manufacturer Adriano Mazzotti, who had previously admitted his company Carnilinx were complicit in fraud, money laundering and tax evasion. They were also responsible for selling tobacco in an illegal manner. The pair’s relationship was then detailed by Jacques Pauw.

The author of The President’s Keepers alleges that NDZ still accepted campaign donations and merchandising deals from the fraudulent outfit during her bid for the presidency at Nasrec – despite knowing how Mazzotti and his cronies unashamedly broke the law. The Sunday Times was also able to prove that the minister and the tobacco kingpin became very cosy with each other.

Dlamini-Zuma’s links to illegal cigarette trade resurface

Dlamini-Zuma has had meetings with Mazzotti. She states they only held discussions once, but Pauw claims that their relationship was much more jovial than that, and wrote that two would often meet to discuss business. Chillingly, the book even hints that Dlamini-Zuma would eventually ‘reward’ Mazzotti once she was in a position of power:

“While monitoring the offices of Carnilinx, agents saw Dlamini-Zuma enter the premises, where Mazzotti presented clothing for her political campaign. NDZ has brushed off any warnings about her dealings with Mazzotti, claiming he ‘has not been convicted of anything’.”

“As we understand it, Mazzotti and Carnilinx pumped serious money into their relationship with Dlamini-Zuma, and they would want something in return in the future. With her [in a position of power], Mazzotti would expect his business interests to blossom.”

Jacques Pauw

Who is Adriano Mazzotti?

Mazzotti – whose relationship with Julius Malema has also come under scrutiny – has had many of his assets seized by SARS. He’s a man on the scrapheap, so it may a little arbitrary to tie Dlamini-Zuma’s cigarette announcement to the illegal tobacco trade. These allegations are yet been proven beyond all doubt.

But NDZ has undoubtedly put herself in the firing line. Frustrations have reached boiling point, as Level 4 of lockdown seems almost as prohibiting as what we’ve had for the past five weeks. Although the government share a collective responsibility for Wednesday’s controversial briefing, a certain opposition leader is sticking to his guns:

I know somebody who is going to be smiling all the way to the bank after his favourite minister shut down the legal tobacco sales tonight 💵 pic.twitter.com/S03eoauQbd

— John Steenhuisen MP (@jsteenhuisen) April 29, 2020