I was just telling my wife this morning that it really feels like things are getting back to some semblance of normalcy again.
New daily Covid-19 infections are under 1,000 and there wasn’t a single Covid-19 attributed death over the weekend.
The gyms are packed. The shopping malls are full. You can have an alcoholic drink at a restaurant, or buy a pack of cigarettes without feeling like a criminal. Remember when they wouldn’t let you buy open-toed shoes or cooked chicken? I can’t help but think back on all the tragically comedic material this government and its lockdown regulations served up on a sanitised platter.
___STEADY_PAYWALL___
Tuesday the 15th of March is the final day of the National State of Disaster. I can say that because technically it’s correct, for the time being. It would be naive, however, to think our government would so easily give up the extraordinary powers bestowed upon it under such legislation.
If you take a look at the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs’ recent statement on Covid-19 you’ll see that “not wearing masks in public places as required remains a criminal offence”.
You can eat at a restaurant in an enclosed space or pile into a packed bar for a drink where it’s logistically and socially, at least, acceptable to remove your mask. But, leave the establishment to walk to your car, in the open air, and you’re legally obliged to wear it.
I’ll leave the debate on the efficacy of masks to people far smarter than myself, but I must admit I find the status quo quite absurd. Also, restricting giant sporting venues to 2,000 people is utterly bizarre.
Will the government extend the State of Disaster?
President Ramaphosa told journalists recently that: “I want it to come to an end. And we are looking at health measures that can be put in place to enable us to continue managing the pandemic. So it will not be heavy duty. It will be light duty so that we are able to manage this pandemic going forward. People should not stress too much about this. We are finding the best way possible of bringing a logical conclusion to this state of disaster.”
Colour me skeptical. But, let’s leave the decision makers to thrash the topic out behind closed doors as they always do. There is no word from the Presidency that Ramaphosa will address the nation on Tuesday evening, but expect an announcement of some sort. There has to be.
While the powers that be here are considering whether or not to finally close the chapter on the world’s longest lockdown – two years now – you’ll read below, our partner in BRICS, China, is going in the opposite direction and aggressively locking down over 17m of its citizens in Shenzhen.
The article from the FT warns that shutting down China’s Silicon Valley likely “threatens already brittle global supply chains.”
As if the world needs anymore volatility at the moment.
More for you to read today:
- The Inflation Hits Just Keep Coming, Raising Stakes for the Fed. Rising oil prices, the Ukraine war and continuing supply-chain issues have complicated the Federal Reserve’s push to tame inflation
- Elon Musk Says Tesla, SpaceX Facing ‘Significant’ Inflationary Pressure. Billionaire also offers advice, saying it’s better to own home or stock in companies during high inflation; ‘I still own & won’t sell my bitcoin, ethereum or doge’
- How the SA Agulhas icebreaker helped to find Shackleton’s lost ship – Prof Annie Bekker. The expedition was made possible by SA Agulhas II, which set off from Cape Town in early February, with the Endurance22 Expedition team on board.
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