South African police officers have turned against their Minister of Police Bheki Cele’s ban on cigarettes saying they will not follow his orders. The cops expressed their anger with the minister after he declared that people caught smoking cigarettes in their vehicles will have to provide receipts of where they bought them.
While addressing a press conference, Minister Cele said cigarettes must be smokes in homes as it was not illegal to smoke in private.
“The only problem is when we find it in your car and you fail to show us where you got the cigarette. When you say you have bought the cigarette, here is the receipt, we take you and go and get the person who sold the cigarette to you,” he said.
Responding to Minister Cele’s remarks, Cape Town police officers said they will not follow his orders.
One of the police officers who spoke on condition of anonymity the ban of cigarettes has added more workload to them since the beginning of the lockdown.
“Since the lockdown, we have had to police this cigarette thing which adds to our workload and it makes no sense because smoking cigarettes has never been illegal. Now they want us to check for slips? How are we going to prove that someone bought it illegally when it goes to court? Spaza shops do not give receipts,” he said.
Another officer responded, “We are now the bad guys for following orders. Most of us will not enforce this because it is getting ridiculous now. The black market for cigarettes is booming on the Cape Flats and the only people making money are the gangsters. The poor people are now paying R10 for one loose entjie.”
Minister Cele’s spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said the Minister was misquoted as he was responding to journalist questions on the transportation of cigarettes.
He said Minister Cele never said that smokers will be entitled to provide proof of purchase if found smoking.
“Therefore, Minister’s response was specifically in reference to people transporting cigarettes. If stopped and a person is unable to prove how they came about those cigarettes since the selling thereof is prohibited, police could work on a presumption that such a person has purchased the cigarettes during the lockdown, unless the contrary can be proven,” Brig Peters said.
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