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ANA reports that members of the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) were joined by tobacco farmers and informal traders on Tuesday as they marched to the National Treasury offices in Pretoria’s CBD.
They were protesting about the thriving inflow of illegal cigarettes into the South African market, suffocating the local business. Katishi Masemola, general secretary of Fawu, explained: “Our mandate is to protect the jobs of South African workers because they are the fuel of our economy. We know that the illicit trade of tobacco is a huge problem that continues to cripple the development of our economy. These criminals are getting away with a wide range of serious offences, including tax evasion, which is in turn eradicating jobs. Although these criminals are known – absolutely nothing is being done to bring them to book, which is unacceptable.” Fawu demanded that the government must immediately clamp down on the suppliers of the illicit tobacco. The union added that the local informal business sector, “which is the backbone of township economies and source of jobs for people in townships, is crumbling due to the infestation of the market with illicit cigarettes.”
- Read this report in full at The Citizen
- Read too, Spaza shops‚ tuckshops and hawkers cry foul over new anti-smoking laws, at Timeslive
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page