[imagesource: TimesLIVE]

Day 70 of the national lockdown, and day 70 of tobacco sales banned in South Africa.

Whilst there are many aspects of the lockdown worth our anger (police brutality, for one), the tobacco ban has struck a nerve for a number of reasons.

Smokers want to smoke and are being charged an arm and a leg on the black market to do so, but even non-smokers are angered by what appears to be an overreach by our government, and some irrational reasoning when pressed on what led to the sales ban.

In particular, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, has come under fire, and her relationship with renowned tobacco trader Adriano Mazzotti has been front and centre.

Mazzotti has already been quoted in the media, denying any relationship with Dlamini-Zuma, and the Minister has gone on record to stress that she is not Mazzotti’s friend.

Investigative journalist and author Jacques Pauw certainly disagrees, having outlined the many links between the two in his book, The President’s Keepers, followed up by a hard-hitting look at tobacco smuggling earlier this week.

Mazzotti isn’t taking the allegations lying down, though, and appeared on eNCA’s Checkpoint earlier this week to further deny any links to Dlamini-Zuma.

We’ll start with the abridged version, focusing on his reaction when pressed on those infamous photos with the Minister, and how he connected her with a better deal for some election campaign t-shirts.

Here’s that part of the interview:

Let’s not forget that there is also this image of Mazzotti with Dlamini-Zuma:

That’s Carnilinx COO Mohammadh Sayed on Dlamini-Zuma’s other flank.

In the full eNCA Checkpoint show, Mazzotti talks about giving money to Julius Malema:

I gave money in my personal capacity, not as a company. I gave money to Julius Malema, who is a friend of mine. I have known him since the days of the [ANC] Youth League. I have been a supporter of the ANC since the 1980s and Julius is a friend of mine.

Nice to have friends in high places.

He also touches on how he became a kingpin in South Africa’s tobacco industry, from humble beginnings as a hawker in Johannesburg during the 1980s.

Reporters then go undercover to buy cigarettes from informal traders, who say that the police have confiscated their stock for their own use, and resale, during lockdown.

Here’s Checkpoint in full:

[source:enca]