Lockdown: No relief for smokers after unconstitutionality ruling

The hopes of smokers, who believed today’s high court judgment declaring level 3 and 4 lockdown regulations unconstitutional and invalid would work in their favour, were dashed when Davis’ order expressly excluded the tobacco ban.

In a controversial judgment handed down today (June 2, 2020), Davis found that South Africa’s lockdown regulations were unconstitutional. He explained that the human rights’ infringements these rules caused could not be justified.

Read: Court finds lockdown regulations unconstitutional

Davis stated that the Pretoria High Court was scheduled to deal with an application on the lockdown ban of tobacco sales later this month.

Read: Tobacco giant to take legal action on smoking ban

He remarked that the issues involved in deciding on the tobacco ban involved not only those using tobacco products, but also those selling it.

“The fiscus also has an interest in the matter,” he said and added that “the impact of this ban on constitutional rights are also more oblique than in respect of other rights contained in the Bill of Rights.”

He concluded that, in the interests of justice, the issues relating to the justifiability of South Africa’s current ban on tobacco sales should be dealt with in the already scheduled case.

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