The Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (Fita) has warned that a decision by the government to appeal a judgment declaring the prohibition of tobacco sales unconstitutional signals that another ban is potentially on the cards.
Fita, established in 2012, represents smaller manufacturers in the tobacco and cigarette manufacturing sector in Southern Africa.
The national government, as represented by co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, indicated on Monday that it would appeal the judgment delivered by the Western Cape High Court in December.
It was reported on Monday that the government would petition the Supreme Court of Appeal, with the state arguing that the high court erred in finding that a similar case brought by Fita, which the government won, was not binding on it.
The case was brought by tobacco traders, including British American Tobacco SA (BAT), after the sale of tobacco products was banned during the hard lockdown that took effect in March 2020 and which was only lifted in August. This devastated the legal tobacco industry and its entire value chain, while costing the fiscus billions in excise tax.
In a statement on Tuesday, Fita’s chair Sinenhlanhla Mnguni said the step by the government to appeal the judgment is “regrettable” given the irreparable harm the five-month ban caused the tobacco industry, and which also led to the “exponential and unabated growth of the illicit cigarette market”.
“This step by the government is further worrisome in that it signals the potential arrival of yet another cigarette sales ban given that the pending appeal will suspend the operation of the Western Cape High Court judgment until this matter is properly ventilated before the courts, which ... could take months if not longer to resolve,” Mnguni said.
Alcohol sales were also banned when the tobacco ban went into effect in March 2020, but the ban on the sale of tobacco products was not reinstated when alcohol sales were again banned late in December.
The alcohol prohibition will be in place until at least January 15 as part of the measures to curb the spread of a surging Covid-19 in SA.
When asked in a briefing on December 29 about the sale of cigarettes, Dlamini-Zuma reportedly said, according to Independent Online, “I did not mention the sale of tobacco, but tobacco is allowed. For now.”
The decision to appeal the high court judgment also came before a meeting of the national coronavirus command council (NCCC) on Wednesday. Government spokesperson Phumla Williams said she does not know which reports would be made available by the different workstreams that deliberate on various issues.
She was, however, at pains to stress that it was an ordinary meeting of the NCCC and not an urgent one.
BAT declined to comment on the government’s decision to appeal the judgment.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.