South Africa's Ban on Tobacco Sales Ruled Unconstitutional

According to a live report from The Times, on June 14th, the South African Supreme Court (SCA) upheld a ruling by the High Court, declaring that banning the sale of tobacco products during the COVID-19 pandemic was unconstitutional.

In March 2020, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma banned the sale of tobacco products in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

In June 2020, tobacco companies British American Tobacco, JT International, and several tobacco product consumers requested a court to declare the ban invalid.

In August 2020, the judges of the court heard the case and reserved their judgement. Later that same month, the minister lifted the ban on tobacco sales.

Although the ban had been lifted, a court ruling in December 2020 declared that the regulation was unconstitutional and invalid.

The government appealed the ruling, but was unsuccessful.

On June 14, the SCA ruled that if there is a causal relationship between smoking and an increased risk of contracting COVID-19, the Minister must provide evidence that quitting smoking during the tobacco ban will reverse or reduce the risk of contracting the virus.

SCA stated that this has not yet been determined as evidence.

The court pointed out that Article 45 is ineffective because it is not necessary for achieving any of the purposes listed in Article 27 of the Disaster Management Law.

Article 27 states that in the event of a national disaster, the minister may formulate regulations to take necessary measures to prevent the escalation of the disaster, minimize, control and reduce its impact.

Source: The Times newspaper.