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On Wednesday morning, President Cyril Ramaphosa held a virtual meeting with leaders of opposition parties.

As you might imagine, there were plenty of points of contention, and Ramaphosa made it clear that he’s feeling the heat from many angles.

According to two political party leaders who were part of the virtual meeting, and spoke with TimesLIVE, the president said he was under “great pressure” to hurry through the alert levels:

…the president informed them of pressure from the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) to open up the economy‚ with business leaders having apparently proposed that the country should move directly to level 2 as the economy was taking a huge beating.

“He said there is pressure at Nedlac to move to level 2 and level 3‚ but business was saying you have to open up beyond level 3‚ and unions are also putting pressure to open the economy‚” said an opposition leader who asked not to be named.

It was always going to be the unions that really tightened the screws, and whilst Ramaphosa didn’t give a timeline, one leader said: “it sounded like we may move sooner rather than later”.

As things stand, it appears as though much of the country will downgrade to alert level 3 at the start of June, although those who live in or around the hardest-hit districts will be holding their breath.

During the same virtual meeting, Cooperative governance and traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma also briefed leaders on what a drop to alert level 3 would entail.

The good news for the economy is that it would see the further opening up of retail and construction sectors, as well as the lifting of the 8PM to 5AM curfew currently in place.

The potentially stressful news for smokers, or at least those who think tobacco sales should be allowed, is this:

“She was adamant about [the] cigarette ban‚ explaining the relationship between smoking and Covid-19‚” said the source.

This is backed up by the News24 report on the same meeting:

Dlamini-Zuma used the meeting to once again raise issues against the sale of tobacco, telling opposition leaders that world health regulations have been explicit about the role of the product in the battle against the virus which attacks the respiratory system.

Whether or not Dlamini-Zuma means continuing to ban the sale of tobacco products under alert level 4, trying to justify her original decision in the face of increased scrutiny, or contesting whether or not it should be sold under alert level 3, is not clear.

I don’t think smokers should panic just yet, but if the South African government reneges once more on the sale of tobacco when dropping an alert level, it’s going to get very ugly, very quickly.

UPDATE: Reports suggest that Dlamini-Zuma is pushing for alcohol and tobacco sales to be banned until alert level 1. Perhaps it is time to get a little worried…

Chances are you’ll see plenty of smokers sharing around this study, which found that “a remarkably low number of smokers appear to be developing severe COVID-19 to the degree that they need hospital treatment”.

To better understand the ins and outs of the study, you should read the full article.

It’s no secret that the Western Cape’s confirmed cases are cause for concern, and whilst the exact reasons behind this are not fully understood, opposition party leaders are not happy with the province remaining on alert level 4:

Apparently‚ the meeting got heated over a proposal that metropolitan municipalities should remain on level 4. The source said there was a proposal that metros could be divided into subregions and that there could be different levels within the metros.

The DA’s John Steenhuisen apparently spoke out vehemently against this‚ questioning how the government could say it was opening up the economy but still keep the metros shut down‚ as most of the country’s economic activity was happening in the metros.

Steenhuisen didn’t respond to requests for comment.

That’s odd because he’s never shy to voice his opinion.

Other leaders, such as the FF Plus’ Pieter Groenewald, said the meeting had “left him uncertain on the way forward as the president gave nothing away,” adding that “there was no true indication of whether the country was moving to Level 3 on a national level, nor did he share details of when he would address the nation”.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Ramaphosa said he would present the concerns of opposition leaders to the COVID-19 national command council for further discussion.

With some dire death toll predictions and projections emerging in the last few days, Ramaphosa will be under immense pressure to balance the economic concerns with the recommendations given by the ministerial advisory committee (MAC), which is itself in the midst of some heated back and forths.

Whatever your views on our government’s handling of this crisis, I think we can all agree that it’s by no means an easy task.

[sources:timeslive&news24]