When the final level is lifted, will we be free?

We are swamped with advice on how to combat the coronavirus. And there are screeds about how to fix our wrecked economy.

We should also pay attention to freedom, which has been curtailed during lockdown. Freedom remains limited. Even now under Level 2 we have a curfew and long list of don’ts. The reasons for these restrictions are not always logically consistent. When the final level is lifted, will we be free?

Certain ministers visibly derive enjoyment from telling us what we may and may not do. Bheki Cele and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (NDZ) for example. Cele’s ridiculous statements included demanding that smokers must produce receipts for their cigarettes and threatening to arrest isolated zoom meeting attendees for not wearing masks. That’s beyond stupid. It’s an insatiable desire to exert authority. To bully.

NDZ has similar tendencies. She has entrenched herself as the nation’s most disliked alcohol prohibitionist and antismoking zealot. Her unwavering belief in the correctness of her views has cost the country billions of rands in revenue and incalculable suffering through jobs lost. She deserves to be lambasted for all this, but critics lose the plot when they call her “kopdoek”. That’s too low.

Control freaks in the ANC are not keen to relinquish the undemocratic authority claimed via the national state of disaster. In court papers, NDZ has shown contempt for democratic accountability.

In an affidavit last week, defending the ban on cigarette sales (although she knew it was about to be lifted) NDZ said there was no general obligation to consult. She said this view about “no need to consult” was shared by the Cabinet. This is worrying. These are people entrusted to lead us. They think they can decide what’s best for us, without discussion. This is contrary to the constitution, which stipulates that the government at every level must be accountable.

The constitution is not suspended during a national state of disaster. Collectively, the ANC leadership screwed up the economy long before lockdown, during which politically connected thieves have plundered massive amounts earmarked to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. This combination of incompetence and corruption makes them unsuitable custodians of our freedom.

In fact, they plan to erode democracy. In a draft “economic recovery plan”, they want to invoke a district development model. It’s a command and control system, similar to how the National Coronavirus Command Council has centralised authority during lockdown. This power grab will, for example, circumvent ward councillors, the only directly elected public representatives in South Africa.

Participatory democracy is under threat. No one knows how long Level 2 will last. We could revert to a higher level at a moment’s notice, including bans on the sale of cigarettes and alcohol. So it would be smart to stock up, if you can afford to do so.

And don’t forget to check your freedom level. How much freedom do you have? Existentialists say we always have freedom in the sense of free choice. But would we really be free under command-council culture spawned by the pandemic?

Martin Williams, DA councillor and former editor of The Citizen.

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