Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma announced on Wednesday evening that government will uphold the ban on tobacco products as South Africa moves into Level 4 lockdown, saying that smoking increased risk of COVID-19 and increased harmful disease outcomes in smokers who contracted the disease.

The announcement comes as the National Council Against Smoking (NCAS), South African Medical Research Council (Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Research Unit), the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) and the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa launch a campaign called “Protect our next” to encourage smokers to stop smoking and to increase awareness of and support for South Africa’s Control of Tobacco and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill.

You can now buy cigarettes. Choose not to.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has outlined measures to open South Africa’s economy and confirmed that the country will move to Level 4 lockdown. Among other relaxation of lockdown measures, this means that grocery stores and other retail outlets will now sell all items in their stores. This has resulted in the sale of a range of items previously listed as non-essential, including cigarettes. 

Public Health Policy and Development Consultant Zanele Mthembu says, “While we believe it was a greatly beneficial decision to exclude cigarettes from the list of essential items during Level 5 of the lockdown, we understood that this ban would be temporary. We are focused on the long term protection of society from tobacco harm through strengthening overall tobacco control measures and legislation, which have a proven positive impact on health worldwide. We are calling on government to pass South Africa’s Control of Tobacco and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill, which has been in the pipeline for some time. Better tobacco control legislation would certainly be of great benefit in the time of a respiratory pandemic.  We urge government to take rapid action on this.”

During the lockdown period to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, tobacco products and e-cigarettes are not being sold to the public. If you are a smoker, this is the opportunity to turn a new page and stop smoking for good. Dr. Sharon Nyatsanza of the National Council Against Smoking (NCAS) gives smokers some tips on quitting smoking.

Stay at home, say NO to tobacco and stay safe South Africa! This is the message from the National Council Against Smoking (NCAS), the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) and the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa as they encourage smokers to take the opportunity to quit during lockdown and protect the health of their families. 

The campaign comes against a backdrop of tobacco companies fuelling the debate on the ban on cigarette sales during lockdown, even as more evidence emerges that smokers face double the risk of serious COVID-19 complications.  “We applaud government’s efforts to curb the COVID-19 pandemic and call upon the government to stand by the decision to ban the sale of cigarettes as lockdown continues,” says Savera Kalideen, Executive Director of NCAS. “However, while banning the sale of cigarettes and related tobacco products during the lockdown period was a hugely positive move, we also remain concerned with longer term tobacco control measures to protect the right to health of all our people.”