For those with the familiar lockdown gripes, last night’s address by President Cyril Ramaphosa was close to the perfect haul.

The entire country will downgrade to alert level 3 on June 1 (big sighs of relief in the Western Cape), you can exercise at any time of the day, the national curfew has been lifted, and alcohol sales will be allowed.

Read this for a breakdown of what is and is not allowed under alert level 3.

There was a collective sigh (wheeze?) of resignation, though, when Ramaphosa stated that the sale of tobacco products will remain banned under alert level 3, meaning Cooperative Governance Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and those in support of the ban won that particular National Coronavirus Command Council battle.

As is usually the case with the addresses, Ramaphosa spent the first 10 to 15 minutes gearing up for the juicy bits, and it was all too much for one woman to bear.

Much like a football team that celebrates a goal, only to have it ruled out for offside, it was a case of premature celebration:

At first she thought that it is good news, but then BOOOOMM – the anticlimax #Level3Lockdown pic.twitter.com/YiFC0ACsYz

— Christo (@ChristoThurston) May 25, 2020

We feel you, auntie.

Two months ago, it seemed absurd that cigarette prices would reach R3 000 a carton, and yet here we are.

Given that we don’t yet know when tobacco sales will be allowed, expect those prices to continue to rise.

Much has been written and said about possible ulterior motives for the ban, and this Daily Maverick article, headlined ‘Coalescence of RET forces behind cigarette ban suggests more at stake than ‘nation’s health’, is well worth a read:

An excerpt:

It seems significant that the majority who have sprung to Dlamini-Zuma’s defence and the cigarette ban also appear to be strong proponents of “radical economic transformation” (RET) – the grouping that has both covertly and overtly supported former president Jacob Zuma’s return to power and allegedly furthered the ends of State Capture…

Like her ex-husband and much of the RET faction, it would seem the minister is relying on unnecessary state secrecy to conceal from critical public attention what should, in a democracy, be a transparent process.

What is being hidden and why? What do the RET forces stand to gain from the continued ban on cigarettes? Is it power, profits from the burgeoning illicit lockdown tobacco trade, or is it control of lucrative criminal networks? Or have South Africa’s 11 million smokers and a large chunk of its economy simply become another proxy in the ANC’s unending factional war? Whatever it is, it certainly has nothing to do with combating “corporate power”, righting historic racial economic inequality, furthering democracy, or protecting the nation’s health.

Make of that what you will.

The ban goes on, as does the sale of black market cigarettes at extortionate prices, and the loss of valuable SARS revenue.

[source:dailymaverick]