South Africa is currently on day 141 of the national coronavirus lockdown which was imposed in March and is under a five-level phase, regulating the country's operations in public amenities, businesses, schools, tourism and travel etc.

According to reports, Ramaphosa met with the National Coronavorus Command Council and Cabinet on Tuesday, who've advised him to move the country to alert Level 2 due to the economic devastation the alcohol and tobacco ban has had on the economy. 

The Fair-Trade Independent Tobacco Association says though they have not yet been informed about the possible unbanning of tobacco products - they are awaiting Ramaphosa's announcement. 

While, Vinpro - a wine NGO who is representing over 2 500 producers, says the industry has already bled out billions of rands. 

Ramaphosa held a virtual meeting with the National Economic Development and Labour Council on Thursday "to finalise an urgent economic recovery programme for South Africa" and how the country "can extricate itself from economic difficulties that have been worsened by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," the presidency says.

According to government's COVID-19 Risk Adjusted Strategy, here's what we can expect when alert Level 2 is activated: 

• All manufacturing scaling up towards 100% employment
• Construction on private residential projects
• All wholesale and retail trade, covering stores, spaza shops, eCommerce and informal traders will be permitted, subject to directions. 
• All real estate activities permitted
• All repair work, including plumbers, electricians, locksmiths, glaziers, roof repair work and all automobile repairs
• All private household employment permitted
• Interprovincial travel is permitted