Category Archives: Cigars

Regulations for Lockdown Alert Level 2 gazetted: No mention of lifting cigarette ban in regulations!

 

I was fortunate to receive a copy of the gazetted Lockdown Level 2 regulations prior to the presentation by Minister Dlamini-Zuma at a Media Livestream just after lunch time today.

 

The Regulations are as follows:

1. The Curfew remains in place, from 22h00 – 4h00

2. A mask must be worn at all times when leaving one’s home, including in public transport

3. No more than 50 persons may attend a funeral

4.  No evictions from own accommodation is allowed.

5.  Any disputes regarding rented accommodation must be heard by the Rental Housing Tribunal

6.  Gatherings are not allowed except for a funeral, a religious gathering, the workplace, conferences and meetings, cinemas (maximum of 50 persons), theatres, concerts, and live performances of up to 50 persons. casinos, auctions, sporting activities, weddings (limited to 50 persons), social events at one’s home with a maximum of 10 persons, fitness centres and gyms (maximum of 50 persons), sports fields, swimming pools (maximum of 50 persons), beaches, public parks, museums, galleries, libraries, Personal Care services, restaurants, bars (maximum of 50 persons), Taverns (maximum of 50 persons), Shebeens (maximum of 50 persons), tour operators, and all accommodation establishments including AirBnB (maximum of 50% of floor space).

7.  Night clubs are not allowed to open.

8.  The country’s borders remain closed except for ports (but cruise ship stops are still banned), and for approved flights for persons requiring international medical care, and for incoming and outgoing repatriation travel.

9.  Transport regulations: buses and taxis may not carry more than 70% for long distance travel, and 100% for any other travel; all passengers must wear a mask.

10.  Licensed on-consumption establishments may sell alcohol (no timing restrictions) , while licensed off-consumption outlets may sell alcohol on Mondays – Thursdays, from 9h00 – 17h00.

A shock is that the ban on cigarette sales, which the President announced would be lifted, is not mentioned in the gazetted Level 2 regulations at all. A news report by News24 states: ‘Level two has no provisions on tobacco, which means no restrictions or limits in the sale of cigarettes, vaping liquid, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, or anything associated with these products’.  In her speech, the Minister mentioned that cigarettes should be smoked responsibly, and should not be shared!

 

About Chris von Ulmenstein

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: Chris von Ulmenstein, My Cape Town Guide/Mein Kapstadt Guide Instagram: @Chrissy_Ulmenstein @MyCapeTownGuide

 

Jubilation: Step down to Corona Lockdown Level 2, Alcohol and Cigarette bans lifted by President Ramaphosa, inter-provincial Travel opens up!

 

After 76 days at Level 3, and 66 days at Levels 5 and 4, President Ramaphosa this evening announced that the whole country will move to Lockdown Level 2 as of midnight on Monday 17 August, and has given the country a Christmas-in-August gift, with the cigarette and alcohol  bans lifted, the latter with some new regulations. Inter-provincial Travel will also be allowed. Continue reading →

My Top 21 recommendations for what to see and do in Havana, Cuba!

I arrived in Havana on 3 July 2019, with no preparation of what I wanted to see or do, except that I wanted to learn to dance the Salsa. I was lucky that a slightly out of date ‘Cuba’ Guide by Lonely Planet was lying in the lounge of the San Lazaro BnB I stayed at. I annexed it for the more than three weeks that I stayed there, and found useful background information in it, but perhaps it contains too much information, not just focused on Havana, my only destination in Cuba, therefore making a large part of the book irrelevant to me. Much more useful was the Guidebook ‘300 Things to love about Havana’ by Heidi Hollinger, focused on Havana, divided into the various suburbs of Havana, with an address, a good representative photograph, and largely accurate in its descriptions, even if published in 2018. 
 

Continue reading →