Friday, 29 March, 2024
HomeMedico-LegalNo guarantee that tobacco ban won't be reinstated — State Attorney

No guarantee that tobacco ban won't be reinstated — State Attorney

The government cannot give an undertaking that the tobacco ban will not be reinstated in the future. In a letter written to the Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (Fita) the State Attorney said Co-operative Governance Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma could not guarantee that the government will not reinstate the cigarette ban, says a News24 report.

This is after Fita told the state that, if government promised that it would not impose a tobacco ban in the future, it would withdraw their Supreme Court of Appeal bid. On Wednesday, 26 August, Fita withdrw its legal challenge to the rationality of the ban on the sale of tobacco products during the lockdown after reaching a settlement with the government.

The organisation’s chair Sinenhlanhla Mnguni said hat the parties agreed, as part of a negotiated settlement, that should minister of co-operative governance and traditional affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma want to reinstate the temporary ban on the sale of tobacco products at any stage in the future, she will follow a public participation process.

An invitation to attend the consultation process will also be made public and Fita and other interested parties will be free to participate in the process. This was not the case when the initial ban was implemented, Mnguni said. Any future decision regarding the prohibition would be taken in accordance with the law. Fita withdrew its appeal and the parties agreed to pay their own costs.

In a letter News24 says it has seen, the government has said Dlamini-Zuma cannot give an undertaking and agree to that condition. “This is not because they intend to reinstate the temporary prohibition at a later stage, but simply because agreeing to this condition would constitute an impermissible and unlawful fettering of the Minister’s discretion conferred upon her in terms of the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002,” the State Attorney’s office wrote. “That said, the Minister can, and does, undertake that any future decision regarding the sale of tobacco and tobacco products, if any, would be taken in accordance with the law and the requirements of legality.”

The state said that, should the country move to a higher lockdown level, Dlamini-Zuma would have to consider whether, under the circumstances, it would be necessary to reinstate a temporary prohibition of the sale of tobacco and related products. However, a settlement seems to be in the offing. Fita is expected to respond to government's letter with a counter-settlement.

The second condition is that each party agrees to pay their own costs in the Fita litigation in the High Court and SCA. The State Attorney said it did not disagree with this condition.

 

[link url="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/govt-cant-promise-that-tobacco-ban-will-never-return-state-attorney-20200821"]Full News24 report[/link]

MedicalBrief — our free weekly e-newsletter

We'd appreciate as much information as possible, however only an email address is required.