Johannesburg – President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday gave some clarity on why his announcement on the lifting of the ban on the sale of cigarettes was reversed.
The president said he should have been the one to announce the decision. He was speaking at a meeting with the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef).
Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (FITA) and British American Tobacco South Africa (BATSA) took the government to court over its decision to extend the ban on the sale of tobacco products.
The president first announced that the ban would be lifted in April, however, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said the ban would remain, citing health reasons and advice from experts.
“When the initial decision was taken, we obviously had also gleaned on the advice that was there from the medical field. The change came about as a result of a flurry of concerns and objections that were raised by a number of South Africans in their thousands,” Ramaphosa said.
The president added that he should have been the once to announce the reversal of that decision.
“And give reasons why this was being changed. That was not done, and we would concede that,” said the president.
Ramaphosa also said Dlamini-Zuma had been subjected to unfair attacks over the contentious ban.
