Government appeals Covid-19 lockdown tobacco ban ruling
6 Jan 2021
A fresh legal wrangle and jostling at the courts over the ban could run for much of the life span of the pandemic itself
(Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images)
NEWS ANALYSIS
As the country cries out for a solid Covid-19 vaccine strategy, the government has moved to appeal the recent court ruling that last year’s tobacco ban was unconstitutional and raised the spectre of a return to one of the most egregious measures it imposed in response to the pandemic.
Papers have been filed by counsel for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, her spokesman said, three weeks after a full bench of the Western Cape high court found that the ban fell foul of both the constitution and administrative law.