President Cyril Ramaphosa has assured the country’s long-suffering smokers that entjies will not be banned forever, but he expressed his annoyance that South Africans drink too much.
Ramaphosa was answering wide-ranging questions from communities across the country on the Covid-19 pandemic during a virtual interaction on Wednesday evening.
Addressing questions relating to the ongoing ban of the sale of tobacco products, he said: ”We won’t be under lockdown forever; even the ban on cigarettes will be lifted. Cigarettes will not be banned forever in our country.”
The Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association lost its bid to overturn the tobacco ban last Friday after it was dismissed by a full bench of the North Gauteng High Court.
Another legal challenge to the cigarette ban is set for the Western Cape High Court next month.
Ramaphosa defended the decision to allow alcohol sales for limited hours between Monday and Thursday, saying: “The rationale was that you could not keep a number of areas of economic activity closed forever.”
However, this move has exposed the ugly side of drinkers’ social life.
REGRET: Ramaphosa says dop exposed ugly side
Since 1 June, there had been excessive abuse of alcohol, spiralling incidents of gender-based violence, road accidents, stabbings and gunfights, while trauma units that were empty during the lockdown became clogged.
“This is deeply regrettable,” said Ramaphosa, adding that South Africa was among the countries with high levels of alcohol consumption.
Responding to calls for the death penalty to be brought back, the president said there were other ways to punish for crimes against women and children.
He said rapists and killers of women and children should get life in jail with “hard labour”.