In a 39-page ruling, the High Court, Pretoria, found in favour of almost every argument advanced by Cooperative Governance Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma in defence of the three-month-long ban on the sale of tobacco products.
Cape Town - The North Gauteng High Court on Friday dismissed the legal challenge by the Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association , as fellow industry heavyweight British American Tobacco SA said it was blindsided by the Western Cape division's decision to delay hearing its parallel challenge until August.
They agreed with Dlamini-Zuma that the test for her decision was that it was procedurally rational and not that it was fair. "There must be a provable reduction on smoking that will achieve the effect the minister wants to achieve here," he said, or her rationale for the ban disintegrated. The court said it was immaterial whether the state may have achieved a similar aim by a less drastic means.
“Thousands of jobs stand to be lost in the economy as criminality becomes the new normal. We are considering all our legal options and will be liaising directly with the government, as we had both previously agreed that the matter was urgent and needed to be heard next Tuesday," said Batsa's head of external, Johnny Moloto.
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