Government to oppose tobacco case
|Published
ACT: Cyril Ramaphosa, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma ACT: Cyril Ramaphosa, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
The government says it will oppose the urgent court application by the Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (FITA) to have their decision on the entjie ban overturned.
The sale of cigarettes and tobacco are not allowed during Level 4 of the lockdown.
Government says while the application brought up new information that needs to be studied, it stands by the ban.
This was according to Lungi Mtshali, the spokesperson of the department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (COGTA), whose minister, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, is the second respondent in the matter.
“We are studying the application as it deviates from the original demand. But, I can state categorically that the government will oppose the application to set aside the temporary ban [on] the sale of cigarettes,” Mtshali told Independent Media yesterday.
The first respondent in the case is President Cyril Ramaphosa.
FITA is represented by Morgan Law Inc. and has given the government until Friday to respond.
ACT: Cyril Ramaphosa, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
Independent Media has reliably learnt that the matter will be heard at the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday next week.
In the 106-page application which includes an opinion of a health expert, a petition, and the economic impact of the ban on tobacco companies, FITA wants to know how government reached the decision to ban entjie sales.
The association’s chairperson, Sinenhlanhla Mnguni, argued that the decision was irrational, and that government ignored the input from over 400 000 people who pleaded for the ban to be lifted.
Mnguni said that the ban infringed upon the rights of 11 million smokers who could develop health complications should they not have access to cigarettes during the lockdown.