The government won two lockdown cases yesterday, with the Western Cape High Court ruling that the regulations are justified, and the High Court in Pretoria finding against the Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (FITA), which sought a lifting of the ban on cigarette sales.
In the Pretoria case, the court said: ‘FITA’s argument that cigarettes ought to have been considered “essential” because they are addictive has no merit. The fact that a substance is addictive does not render it essential. We therefore find no basis on which to interpret the level five regulations as permitting the sale of tobacco products.’
The judgment said: “Many products and services were prohibited during the lockdown period in so far as they were defined as non-essential. Many industries were restricted as a goal of curbing and managing the pandemic. Differential or preferential treatment for tobacco products and/or the tobacco industry therefore cannot be countenanced, as tobacco products were simply not considered to be essential.’
The Cape Town case arose from an application to have the lockdown regulations declared invalid, and the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) declared inconsistent with the Constitution and the Disaster Management Act. It was brought by Mpiyakhe Dhlamini (a regular Daily Friend contributor), Duwayne Esau, Tami Jackson, Lindo Khuzwayo, Mikhail Manuel, Neo Mkwane, Scott Roberts and Riaan Salie.
Judge Rosheni Allie, who presided with Judge Elizabeth Baartman, said in her judgment: ‘I accept that the measures do not satisfy everyone and there is a great deal of criticism levelled against them. The inconvenience and discontent that the regulations have caused the applicants and others have to be weighed against the urgent objective and primary constitutional duty to save lives.’
A second case on the tobacco sales ban brought by the country’s largest tobacco manufacturer, British American Tobacco South Africa (BATSA), was due to have been heard on Tuesday, but was yesterday postponed to the first week of August.
It appears the delay was requested because of ‘new matter’ being introduced in affidavits by two new experts.
In response, BATSA described the decision as ‘inexplicable’ and ‘worrying’.
‘The shock news will… cost South Africa more than R1.4 billion and thousands of jobs as justice is delayed by almost six weeks.’
Positive cases rose by 6 215 to 124 590, and the toll rose by 48 to 2 340.
The bulk of new cases were in Gauteng (2 598 compared to 1 161 in the Western Cape). Gauteng has the highest number of active cases in the country (24 212 compared to the next highest, in the Western Cape, of 16 926).
The Western Cape has the highest number of recorded cases (57 941, or 46.5%) and recoveries (40 979), followed by Gauteng (31 344 reported cases, or 25.2%, and 7 132 recoveries).
Deaths remain highest in the Western Cape (1 692, with 40 reported yesterday), followed by the Eastern Cape (371, with 8 reported yesterday), and Gauteng (149).
News24 reported that more than 550 pupils, teachers and support staff had tested positive in the Eastern Cape, while 154 provincial schools had been temporarily closed. In the Western Cape, more than 700 teachers and school staff and 88 pupils had tested positive to date.
In other virus-related news
- The US recorded an all-time daily high of 40 000 cases on Thursday, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. Health officials warned that 20 million people in the US may actually have been infected, almost 10 times the recorded number;
- Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered all bars to close and limited public gatherings to fewer than 100 people in the second attempt in as many days to curb a sudden spike in new cases in the state. Florida recorded 8 942 cases in one day, a new record number. That means a 62% increase over the previous record of 5 508 reported on Wednesday. Florida’s total number of cases now stands at 122 960; and
- Johns Hopkins University figures show the number of cases worldwide stands at 9.6 million with more than 490 000 deaths.