Hello fellow smokers & friends of smokers

I am sure everyone watched the nerve-racking court case yesterday and smoked more than a few cigarettes �

Advocate Subel, in my eyes was brilliant!

He argued that tobacco addicts are suffering under the ban and it has pushed them into buying illicit cigarettes & went on to say that it is irrational & damages the economy.

Advocate Subel represented the Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (Fita) in its application for the abolishing of the regulation which many have labelled ‘draconian’.

According to Subel, only South Africa and Botswana have included such a ban in their measures to limit the spread of Covid-19. After prohibiting tobacco sales on March 26, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that tobacco sales would be reinstated during a subsequent April briefing.

Yet the rug was pulled out from under smokers with an announcement to the contrary was delivered by Co-Operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma shortly thereafter.

Zuma alleged the link between smoking and Covid-19 had motivated government to further extend the ban. The existence of this link was questioned by Subel..

He said no conclusive scientific findings exist on which the claim can be based. “If you don’t know, you have no basis to prohibit,” he held, adding that the processes employed by government to curb the virus from spreading have lost credibility and rationality.

Although Subel did not challenge the constitutionality of the regulations, the terms he used to label the ban resonated those used by Judge Norman Davis when describing lockdown level 3 and 4 regulations in his judgment in the same court last week. Government has since applied for leave to appeal the Davis judgment.

Our petition, which I signed affidavits for, allowing it to be used in court if needed, was also mentioned, so a big thank you to you all…

Judgment has been reserved in the tobacco ban court case following nearly a full day of arguments.  The wait is almost over!

The Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association says the cigarette ban is illogical and has impacted negatively on poor people who've been forced to turn to the black market.

Watch the video where Ziyanda Ngcobo caught up Fita chairperson, Sinenhlanhla Mnguni.

Let our voices be heard!

Yours in the fight against the tobacco ban

Bev Maclean