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Fita’s High Court case outcome will only be known next week

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The Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (Fita) will have to wait until next week to know if they will be allowed to approach the Supreme Court of Appeal to review the decision of the Pretoria High Court to dismiss its application to unban the sale of tobacco products.

A full bench of judges at the High Court in Pretoria heard the application for leave to appeal against the court’s earlier decision to dismiss Fita’s application.

Fita’s legal representative, Advocate Arnold Subel argued this morning that history has shown that the banning of products has never stopped people from using it.

He said his client believed that the ban has had an enormous economic impact on the tobacco industry and the country.

“Ultimately, we submit another court will say, taking a view here to balance it, on the one side of the scales we put in the minister’s justification that there’s some benefit, some unarticulated, unquantified benefit. This court found it was sufficient, but we have to weigh it up. And an appeal court may find and weigh that up against what is the prejudicial consequences of the ban and find it doesn’t pass rationality.”

In the video below, Fita’s court case: 

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