British American Tobacco South Africa (BAT) is threatening
to go to court if the government does not concede to its demand to lift the ban
on tobacco products by Monday.
Through its lawyers Webber Wenztel, the company said in a
letter to government that its u-turn on lifting the ban was unreasonable.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced previously that at the
end of the level 5 lockdown on April 30, the sale of tobacco products would be
permitted.
However, on Wednesday cooperative governance and
traditional affairs minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said the ban would
remain after public comments advised against it.
"Government took that into consideration, debated the
merits, looked at it and decided that we must continue as we are when it comes
to cigarettes and tobacco products and related items that we should not open up
for sale," she said.
BAT said government had until 10am on Monday to take their
demands into consideration or face an urgent court application.
“If we do not receive a confirmation, our instructions are
to bring an urgent application for the review and setting aside of Regulation
27, on the grounds that it is unlawful and irregular,” said the letter.
Within a short space of time after Ramaphosa's initial
announcement, BAT had received more than 10,000 orders from retailers wishing
to sell tobacco products.
“This lifting of the prohibition was celebrated not only by
our client, but by retailers and consumers throughout the country.
“At no stage was our client or anyone else given the
opportunity to comment on the proposed retention of the prohibition. Our client
has been severely prejudiced by the prohibition on the sale of tobacco products
and vaping.” Times
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