Mr PM smoke them out, please

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It is common cause that organised crime, to a large extent, is still prevalent in developing and developed countries because of backing from powerful politicians and big businesses.

Our preliminary investigation (as stated in a previous story) has revealed that some respectable politicians in the country are actively involved in the trade, which is considered at par with modern day drug dealing – the only difference being that they are involved in the smuggling of a product that is legally sold over the counter. When the issue of cigarettes smuggling first came to the fore in Swaziland, its ugly face was the death of flamboyant and feared Manzini businessman, Thulani Mndvoti. His death, it was revealed, was due to a deal gone sour – where one of his trucks was impounded.

After a series of reports in the local media, it emerged that important figures were the main players in the industry while it was also revealed a respected legislator was once a co-director before resigning “after being told that the company is not clean”. It is now evident that the legislator’s short stint was just a tip of the iceberg. May we hasten to emphasise that this does not mean that the legislator is still involved, but merely to point out that so far, he is the only politician who came out to declare his short-lived directorship in a company that dealt in such.

Instead, the question that begs is: how many politicians are involved in this mess and how far reaching is their net of influence, which we suspect, has kept a clampdown on this business submerged? With reports implicating officers at border posts in the smuggling, how many in the civil service are involved in assisting this multimillion local racket? The answers to these and related questions can only be found once a proper probe into the matter is launched. However, such a probe can only be instituted by a credible legislature, backed by a political will to find those responsible and punishing them accordingly.

On the broader side, the problem of cigarettes smuggling is somehow three-pronged: economically, politically and in terms of health. Economically, it is common cause that the tobacco business is a multi-billion industry. Therefore, it goes without saying that when large consignments of cigarettes move from country to country without proper declaration and payment of customs duties, it affects the revenue collection capacity of that particular country, and distorts the calculation of Gross Domestic Product figures.

On the political front, the involvement of politicians in dirty deals such as cigarette smuggling pollutes the integrity of political institutions. Above that, it casts doubt on the political will to eradicate crime as the very people who make the laws could be compromised when it comes to holding central government accountable for the enforcement or the lack of enforcement for laws dealing with the crimes in which they are involved. In terms of health, research has shown that some of the cigarettes smuggled do not go through internationally accredited quality control measures, which are aimed at minimising the dangers of smoking on users. One needs not to look further than the Mbabane and Manzini bus terminus which are littered with individuals who sell different brands of cigarettes, some for as little as 50 cents.

One look at such cigarette containers does not show the government agreed dosage of nicotine and nicotine on that particular brand of cigarettes. What that means is that some of our honourable politicians (who are involved) are selling a silent killer, as the ordinary smoker – who is often the average man on the street – might be tempted to go for the cheaper cigarette whose production is backed by the principle of minimising costs and maximising profits – much at the expense of the health of millions of people.

It is on that premise that the Swazi News finds it disturbing that some honourable people have been linked to this kind of ‘legal drug money’ that many locals have ventured into. Although we have not named them today, we intend to do so in due course as their involvement stands to diminish the little confidence that many people have in government. We further appeal to the Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini to do something about this mess. We trust that Sibusiso will save both our economy and lives by embarking on a clean-up campaign and we avail our services to this course.

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