Govt prepares to defend tobacco ban in court
Cooperative Governance Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma says she’s prepared to defend the government’s tobacco ban in court.
This comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the decision to move the whole country to alert level 3 where certain regulations will be relaxed.
Under level 3 the curfew will be lifted and alcohol will be sold for home consumption.
But sale of tobacco products remains prohibited.
Dlamini-Zuma told the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday that the government’s tobacco ban is motivated by science.
“People who smoke do have problems with the lungs and if they do get the infection, they are more likely than the non-smokers to get a more serious disease.”
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The fight for the sale and distribution of tobacco is set to continue in the courts this week.
Dlamini-Zuma said the government is prepared to defend the decision before the country’s judiciary.
“The study that was done by the HSRC (Human Sciences Research Council) does show that a slot of people didn’t go out and look for cigarettes.
“But I will leave it at that because the matters are in court. We will explain at lot more. Our lawyers will explain a lot more about smoking and Covid-19.”
She added: “I will leave this matter of smoking and cigarettes. It will be aired much more in court.”