Cock-up cocktail

MISTAKE: TWEET SAYING NO BOOZE, CIGS UNTIL LOCKDOWN ENDS UNTRUE

TMolut hil in estium, U South Africans were up in arms yesterday after a government tweet saying booze and cigarettes will be banned ‘throughout the lockdown period’ went viral – but was later removed and labelled ‘incorrect’.

‘Outlawed under Level 3 regulations, but may be reviewed at any time.’

South Africans were given a collective heart attack yesterday when someone from the Government Communication and Information System Twitter account posted what was in a nutshell a “sorry for you message”, declaring alcohol and tobacco were not be sold until the end of lockdown.

Not while under the never-ending story of the fifty shades of lockdown Level 3, but lockdown.

Aside from the sound of pearls being clutched across the nation, there was real anger, too, at a government increasingly being seen as bumbling from pillar to post in a growing perception that a rolling snafu gains no jobs – to mangle a few metaphors.

South Africans around the country were up in arms yesterday, after a post from government’s official Twitter page – saying booze and cigarettes would remain banned “throughout the lockdown period” – went viral.

The post was subsequently removed, with government labelling it “incorrect”, but not before it had been shared more 1 000 times and attracted as many comments.

It went live at around midday and read: “The ban on the sale of alcohol and cigarette will remain in place throughout the lockdown period. The purpose is to save lives and protect the health and well-being of our people. #AlcohoBan [sic].”

It was also accompanied by two images, which appeared to be slides from a department of health presentation, both of which were headed “The Data Behind the Alcohol Ban”.

Sinenhlanhla Mnguni, chair of the Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (Fita) which is currently embroiled in a court battle with government over the tobacco sales ban, was among those whose ire the post raised.

“Given the number of people that both the liquor and tobacco industries employ along their value chains, that @GovernmentZA communication was in poor taste.

“No effort at even engaging industries. Just a tweet! @CyrilRamaphosa I thought you said you’re a listening government,” he posted in response.

Local rapper AKA was also unimpressed and said: “An estimated 1 million jobs will be lost in the alcohol industry alone. ONE MILLION JOBS.

“Everything from Wine farmers, to Administraton, drivers & logistics, down to the owners of local taverns.

“Even manufacturing of Glass. Devastating knock on effects [sic].”

Mystery surrounds the events that led to the post being published in the first place, with questions to government spokespeople around what exactly had happened having gone unanswered yesterday afternoon.

In a series of follow-up posts on Twitter, though, government said: “This account posted a tweet earlier today which said that the ban on the sale of alcohol and cigarettes would remain in place throughout the lockdown period. This is incorrect.

“The sale of alcohol and tobacco products is prohibited under the current Level 3 regulations.

“This decision may be reviewed at any time by the relevant structures should the conditions which necessitated it change.

“We regret any confusion the tweet has caused”.

So, did Phumla Williams, head of the Government Communication and Information System, ban the errant idiot on Twitter to polishing ashtrays?

We will never know, but it won’t take a bank of political analysts to note President Cyril Ramaphosa and his administration are rapidly losing the “buy-in” Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize was pleading for recently, all for the want of a tipple and a skyf. – bernadettew@citizen.co.za, additional reporting by Amanda Watson