[ad_1]
By Baldwin Ndaba 
14h ago
Johannesburg – The National Command Council (NCC) on coronavirus led by President Cyril Ramaphosa faces another tough challenge as the Independent Fair Trade Tobacco Association (Fita) wants Ramaphosa to release the minutes of a meeting where the decision was made to continue with the ban on the sale of cigarettes.
This is Fita’s latest lawsuit, as the parties will face each other in the North Gauteng Superior Court in Pretoria. A date for the legal confrontation has not yet been established.
Meanwhile, the Tobacco Association, which represents Carnilinx and Gold Leaf Tobacco, seeks to argue that the government’s decision to continue the ban is “irrational and illegal.”
Its new application comes after the government made concessions to allow all major tobacco organizations to continue manufacturing tobacco and exporting it during Tier 4 of the shutdown.
However, despite the concession, the sale of tobacco products at various retail and spaza stores in the country is still prohibited, a decision that continues to upset Fita.
Yesterday, the parties were due to fight in court, but the matter had to be postponed due to the latest government decision.
Fita President Sinenhlanhla Mnguni confirmed that the association had accepted the postponement.
“During the last week, various judicial processes and correspondence between the parties were exchanged through their respective legal representatives. The result of this has been that the government has agreed that the manufacture and export of tobacco products has always been allowed under current regulations enacted on April 29, 2020 by the Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, “said Mnguni.
He added that the agreement reached was that the manufacture of tobacco products would continue, but the workforce would be limited to just 30% of employees at a particular plant.
Mnguni added that the government insisted that tobacco manufacturing and transportation would have to comply with strict health protocols.
Despite the relief, Mnguni stressed that they will go ahead with their main application to challenge the government’s decision to ban the sale of cigarettes.
According to Mnguni, they hope their urgent request will be placed on the court’s list soon.
“We will now focus on the relief sought in the main application, including confirmation by a court of law that the sale of tobacco and cigarette products is legal under the closing regulations. In an effort to expedite the matter, the respective legal representatives of both parties are currently working on a timeline for part of the main case of our court request to be heard as soon as reasonably possible.
“We have full confidence in our legal system, and are of the opinion that once this matter is properly aired, a fair result will be obtained. Therefore, we will relentlessly pursue our core application.”
The government has yet to respond to Fita’s documents.
Political Bureau
[ad_2]
