British American Tobacco has threatened to sue South Africa’s Cooperative Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma over regulations relating to the sale of tobacco products, reported IOL.

In a letter drafted by the law firm Webber Wentzel, British American Tobacco stated that it would take the matter court if the regulations were not amended by 10.00am May 4. The complaint is over South Africa’s Disaster Management regulations, which prohibit the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products. On April 29, two days prior to South Africa’s lockdown being moved to a less restrictive Level 4, Dlamini-Zuma announced that the ban on the sale of tobacco products would remain in place. However, President Cyril Ramaphosa had previously announced that the loosening of the lockdown would mean cigarettes would be available for purchase again, although the ban on alcohol was to remain in place.
According to the report, the reason for the sudden change was due to around 2,000 submissions being made by the general public, requesting that the ban remained in place. Dlamini-Zuma also reiterated the fact that COVID-19 is a respiratory disease and smoking could make people more vulnerable.
South Africa’s Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni, had previously said that he was against the retention of the prohibition, as the government had already lost USD 80 million in tax revenue as a direct result of the ban.