FITA back in court again
With the fight against South Africa’s tobacco ban back in court on Wednesday, a lobby group says the problem is that the government and experts are sitting at opposite ends of the table.
The SA Policy Drug Initiative has been weighing in on the matter which will be brought before court by the Fair-Trade Independent Tobacco Association.
It’s appealing the government ban on the sale of cigarettes during the coronavirus pandemic.
FITA's last argument was dismissed by the Pretoria High Court which found that arguments for cigarettes as a necessity during the lockdown, weren’t compelling enough.
READ: South Africa COVID-19 cases nears 300 000
Dr. Keith Scott is with the SA Policy Drug Initiative.
He says while the government’s enforcing coronavirus rules, medical experts have been arguing from a health perspective.
"It failed specifically on looks of the judgement because the judges felt that the minister's decision was rational and it was based on the aspects of the law and separations of power, rather than scientific evidence," he said.
"They specifically said that they weren't challenging our scientific evidence, they weren't going to take it into account."
