Smoking ban sign of responsible government — Dlamini-Zuma

The overarching rationale for prohibiting the sale of tobacco products was to protect human life and health, and to reduce the potential strain on the health-care system.

This is the submission made by co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in the application by the Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (Fita), which wants the court to set aside the regulation prohibiting the sale of tobacco during lockdown.

Dlamini-Zuma, in an answering affidavit filed to the high court in Pretoria dated June 3, said Fita had not made out its case, and wanted the application dismissed with costs.

She said that from studies undertaken so far, the evidence was that the use of tobacco products increased not only the risk of transmission of Covid-19, but also the risk of developing a more severe form of the disease.

Dlamini-Zuma said since regulation 27 (which banned the sale of tobacco products on level 4) was promulgated, various organisations within the South African medical fraternity had expressed their support for the prohibition.

Dlamini-Zuma said the evolving medical literature, now confirmed by the World Health Organisation, showed that smokers were more likely to develop a severe form of Covid-19 compared to nonsmokers.