Widespread relief as ban on tobacco sales is lifted

South African tobacco producers, who have suffered greatly since the ban on tobacco products was announced in March, have expressed relief about the lifting of the ban. Annelie Coleman reports.

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Tobacco farmers did not only suffer financially, but the ban on the sale of tobacco products during levels 3, 4 and 5 of the national lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 had also severely affected them psychologically.

This was according to Herman Roos, a tobacco producer near Brits. “I cannot even begin to tell you how relieved we were when the ban was lifted. For the past five months we lived in a state of uncertainty, not knowing what the future held for us, [and] the ban did not only affect us and our families, but also our workers and their families,” he told Farmer’s Weekly.

At present, the trade in illegal cigarettes still remained a serious problem, he said. South African tobacco producers were strictly regulated in terms of production, and by law, were obliged to have all the relevant paperwork in place at all times.