It’s early evening but I’m still at work, hunched over the laptop in the lounge, where I’ve spent most of the day. I’ve spent most of the week there, no face-to-face jobs, strictly phone work and emails.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is on the screen, conducting his first online imbizo since he locked the country down. It’s also the first time he’s taken questions since he started his “fellow South Africans” thing, way back in March, so I’m keen to hear how he handles it. Ramaphosa’s looking a bit more relaxed, less exhausted than during his last appearance. Perhaps the president has caught up on some sleep. Perhaps he’s confident in the ability of the screening team whose job it is to weed out the nutters and the tobacco industry lobbyists; make sure it’s not Carl Niehaus chanting “we are Msholozi, and Msholozi is us” on the other end of the line.
The president’s clearly battling to keep a straight face as he replies that the gwai ban is not permanent; that it will be lifted when we move on to another level, or perhaps to another level; that smoking cigarettes is not, in fact, a thing of the past and that one day South African smokers will, eventually, be able to buy their cigarettes legally in the Republic.