Journalist's microphone ignites laughter at court's tobacco hearing

Breitenbach asked if the device was ticking.Breitenbach’s sense of humour kicked in: “I am tempted to say as long as there is not smoke coming out of it, it’s OK.”Batsa and nine other litigants, including farmers, consumers and processors, sued Dlamini-Zuma, President Cyril Ramaphosa and the national coronavirus command council over the ban on cigarette sales. Dlamini-Zuma and Ramaphosa defended the decision.

Moloto said the litigants were forced to take the legal route after “numerous attempts to engage the government on the reason for the ban, and possible alternatives were rebuffed”. “Meanwhile the ban, which has been in force for 132 days, has cost more than R4.5bn in lost excise tax revenue, put 300,000 jobs at risk and forced smokers to buy unregulated products from the underground market at exorbitant prices.”

“Consumers are having to pay prices on average more than three times higher than before lockdown, generating huge profits for syndicates from organised crime who become more deeply entrenched by the day,” said Moloto.

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