Johannesburg – Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu on Wednesday assured South Africans that the ban on the sale of cigarettes was only for level 3 lockdown. He stated that he did not see it continuing beyond that level.
Earlier this week, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma told the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) that the ban was implemented to protect public health and decrease the strain on the country’s health system. On Wednesday, government filed its court papers in a case brought against it by Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (FITA) which was pushing for the ban to be lifted.
According to Mthembu, the ban on the sale of cigarettes was only for level 3.
“The ban on cigarettes, it’s just at this level we are in. We don’t know how many weeks we will be at this level. I can assure you after we’ve been out of level 3, I don’t see the ban on the sale of cigarettes continuing,” Mthembu said.
Mthembu added that government would be taking input from members of the public on that and other issues.
“Those representations will not apply for level 3 because indeed the president has given us all marching orders as it relates to level 2,” he said.
