Durban Chamber president urges government to lift tobacco ban

LIFTING the tobacco ban will boost South Africa’s struggling economy which is expected to contract by 7,2 per cent in 2020 while the unemployment rate reaches 30.1 per cent.

This according to President of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), Nigel Ward who was commenting on the 2020 Supplementary Budget Speech delivered by Minister of Finance, Tito Titus Mboweni on Wednesday.

“It is clear that South Africa’s economy is struggling and that as a country we face a ‘Herculean task’ to avoid a sovereign debt crisis by 2023,” said Ward.

According to DCCI, the country’s revised gross revenue from R1,43 trillion to R1,12 trillion for the 2020/21 fiscal year is no surprise given the depressed job market.

“We believe that lifting the ban on tobacco trade will contribute towards mitigating revenue losses,” said Ward.

Also read: Tobacco giant takes legal action as ban continues in level 3 lockdown

“While the risk-adjusted approach is necessary, we encourage government to work with the private sector to ensure the lifting of restrictions is rational and based on empirical data and scientific facts,” he added.

DCCI also cautioned government against taking loans as the projected debt level is 81.8 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

“The projected shortfall in tax revenue poses a huge threat to South Africa’s fiscus. There is an urgent need for the government to limit its borrowing and reduce debt levels. The Durban Chamber urges government to proactively reduce unnecessary expenditure and re-evaluate the ‘limitless’ loan guarantees and bailouts extended to failing state-owned enterprises (SOEs),” he said.

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