LETTER: State meddling costs the nation
Government’s campaign over the years to eliminate ‘unhealthy’ habits has resulted in increased prices of goods
The battle against Covid-19 has provided all governments with a reason to indulge in their central planning, authoritarian tendencies. Along with brutal infractions on civil liberties and economic freedoms, the SA government banned the sale of certain items of clothing and rotisserie chicken, suspended e-commerce, and imposed bans on the sale of cigarettes and alcohol.
The latest National Income Dynamics-Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (Nids-Cram) data indicate that about 85% of smokers continued smoking through the government’s lockdown-linked ban on the sale of cigarettes, and only about 8% of smokers quit during the ban. About 50% of those who said they quit indicated that they resumed smoking once the ban was lifted...
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