President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday that government backtracked on the decision to allow the sale of cigarettes under level 4 lockdown after members of the public raised concerns.
"It so happens that it was done on a very controversial issue. This is by no means the only issue where we've listened to our people and changed tack," he said."Listening to our people, we heard the serious concerns raised by our people, health wise, and we decided we should reexamine that. We discussed it and changed our position," he said.
Asked about his views on members of the tobacco industry taking government to court over the banning of cigarettes, Ramaphosa said he had faith the country's courts would assess the matter and make a decision accordingly.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
'This brouhaha should not even be there': Ramaphosa on cigarette U-turnIn a bid to assist the government in feeding the poor, the association says they all took off whatever they had, including their produce to give to the 54 villages in Nkomazi municipality on Tuesday.
Read more »
TOM EATON: Lockdown love bubble bursts in a puff of smokeUnflattening curve of arrests and U-turn on cigarettes drag the spotlight back onto the chaos in the ANC 🔒 TomEatonSA
Read more »
'The attacks on minister Dlamini-Zuma are baseless, unfounded and border on malicious': Khusela DikoPresident Cyril Ramaphosa's spokesperson Khusela Diko has come out in defence of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma after attacks levelled against her over the U-turn on the ban of cigarettes sales.
Read more »
Ramaphosa on cigarette sales ban: 'You can approach the courts'President Cyril Ramaphosa said those questioning the government's decision to backtrack and maintain the ban on sale of tobacco had the right to approach the courts to raise their grievances.
Read more »
Ramaphosa speaks: Continued ban on cigarettes sales was a collective decisionPresident Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday dismissed suggestions that he was overruled by the minister of cooperative governance on the country's continued cigarette ban, saying there was a collective decision to make a U-turn on lifting the ban during level 4 of South Africa's Covid-19 lockdown.
Read more »
Cigarette ban a collective decision - Cyril RamaphosaPresident Cyril Ramaphosa has explained that the decision to extend the ban of cigarette sales under the level 4 lockdown regulations was a collective decision of the national coronavirus command council (NCCC) following public consultation.
Read more »