PETER BRUCE: End to lockdown won’t turn our pumpkin economy into a fairy tale

It’s close now, the end of lockdown. Cosatu has called for an end to prohibition. A forum of directors-general wants the economy opened. Chambers of commerce too. If you hurry, you might get in your own call for a return to sanity before President Cyril Ramaphosa moves us all to level 1.5, or no level at all, in the next few days or hours.

Then claim credit for it on social media! Or not. The state of disaster Ramaphosa proclaimed back in March comes to an official end on Saturday, and with health minister Zweli Mkhize positively bursting with enthusiasm for how good the Covid-19 numbers are looking, it's a slam-dunk that Ramaphosa — who never moves without that kind of public political encouragement — will dramatically ease restrictions on travel, drinking and smoking and pretty well all forms of business.

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