If you think President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to lift the ban on cigarettes and alcohol from Tuesday means an abrupt end of the nanny state, you’re likely to be sorely disappointed.

This, at least, is the impression you get by reading the legal papers filed by government leaders, notably co-operative governance & traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, in various court actions across the country. (As the prohibition is lifted, some of these lawsuits will fall away, but not all.)..