Cigarette ban: Legal action dropped as government engages tobacco firm
British American Tobacco South Africa (Batsa), on 6 May, has withdrawn its decision to take legal action against the government regarding the cigarette ban during the lockdown.
The tobacco company, has instead, decided to remain in discussions with the government on a way forward — here’s why.
BATSA MAKES A U-TURN
Head of External Affairs at Batsa Johnny Moloto said the company will now engage in further discussions with the government on the formulations and applications of regulations under the lockdown.
“Batsa confirmed that it received the formal response to a letter sent on 30 April to the relevant ministers in the National Command Council (NCC). Having considered the response from government and noting President Cyril Ramaphosa’s public statement on Monday 4 May, as a business we have taken the decision not to pursue legal action at this stage,” said Moloto.
After receiving a letter from government, Batsa decided against taking legal action. This could mean one of two things. Either the letter indicated that taking legal action would not benefit the company or its goals in any way or there could have been an “informal settlement” of sorts.
In other words, government could have indicated that the cigarette ban will be lifted at a time that is acceptable to Batsa and therefore, legal action was no longer needed.
Whether this is good news for smokers or bad news, we don’t know but a verdict will no-doubt materialise soon.
“We are convinced that by working together we can find a better solution that works for all South Africans and removes the threat of criminal sanction for the 11 million tobacco consumers in the country,” he said.
Batsa, although dropping legal charges, remains concerned over the rise in the illicit trade of tobacco during the lockdown — something which threatens the livelihood of legitimate businesses owners.
“We believe it is vital that there is a renewed and stronger effort under level four [of the lockdown] to permanently close down the illegal supply lines of tobacco that have been established over the past few weeks. Reopening the legal, taxed and regulated tobacco market must be part of the solution,” added Moloto.
GOVERNMENT GIVEN AN ULTIMATUM REGARDING CIGARETTE BAN
Tobacco companies like Batsa and Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (Fita), have both in recent weeks, threatened to take legal action against the government for the ban on cigarette sales.
The argument, to sum it up, is that the ban is hurting the South African economy more than it is doing good.
Batsa initially said it would challenge the government in court should the ban on tobacco products not be reviewed by Monday 4 May.
Ramaphosa, while addressing the nation, said the ban on cigarette sales would be lifted come lockdown level 4. Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, thereafter, said the ban would not be lifted. This caused some chaos to say the least.
Ramaphosa came to her defence though:
“After careful consideration and discussion, the NCCC reconsidered its position on tobacco. As a result, the regulations ratified by Cabinet and announced by Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on 29 April extended the prohibition,” he said.
“This was a collective decision and the public statements by both myself and the minister were done on behalf of, and mandated by, the collective I lead,” he added.
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