Ramaphosa defends lockdown and says cigarette ban now ‘in the hands of the courts’

The ban on the sale of cigarettes is in “the hands of the courts”, while a renewed ban on alcohol may not be on the table for now, but it remained a possibility.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday took open questions from MPs in a largely virtual session which saw attempts to disrupt proceedings by the Economic Freedom Fighters quickly turned off.

Predictably most questions revolved around the ongoing lockdown, with the president saying the government had nothing to hide and that it was continuing to consult experts on the way forward.

“We cannot remain locked up forever in the end,” he added.

Speaking on the possibility of alcohol being restricted again, he said the country had to move forward from the lockdown, but that possibility still remained.

“Could we have banned alcohol forever, should we have only opened it up at level 1? It is a matter that is still up for discussion.”

The ban on cigarettes, the president said, is a matter that is now “in the hands of the courts.”

Ramaphosa says the post Covid-19 South Africa will be the same as a post-war country and it will need to be rebuilt, almost from scratch.

“Many things will have to be reset, we’ll have to look at policies from the past and decide if they are still fit for purpose.

“We do need to reset the structure of our economy…we will be acting unconventionally to protect jobs.”

The DA’s John Steenhuisen asked if bailing out SAA is a good idea, given its history of losing money.

Ramaphosa said state-owned enterprises will be made to function efficiently in a post-Covid environment, and their operations examined to improve efficiency.

The president spoke of the “silver lining” of Covid-19 as being the manufacture of medical supplies locally, and for African consumption.

“I am optimistic, I am not pessimistic…if ever there was a time to bring in more black people into the industrial base, the restructuring of our economy is a moment we now need to grasp.”

You can watch the question and answer session here:

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