At a press briefing on Friday 22 May Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, announced that anyone found smoking in public would need to produce a receipt to prove when and where their cigarettes were purchased.
Further to this laughable announcement it is reported that the Minister said the following:
“It is not illegal to smoke cigarettes in your house. The only problem is when you fail to show us when and where you got the cigarettes. Buying cigarettes and the sale is illegal. Until those regulations are removed it will remain an offence to do such.”
There is no regulation making provision for any person to be compelled to provide proof of purchase for their cigarettes.
These latest comments join a long list of irrational and petty Ministerial edicts which cause confusion in public and among the police officers deployed to enforce the regulations.
The DA demands that the Minister publicly retract his comments and apologize to the nation.
Click here to contribute to the DA’s legal action challenging irrational and dangerous elements of the hard lockdown in court