Durban - AGH, no man, he did it again.
There were all the president’s fellow citizens, hanging on every word, holding their breath for answers. There were some good words - acknowledging errors, saying the government was willing to listen, that some relaxation was on the cards - but not telling us anything concrete.
South Africans have been ordered to stay home in one of the worst situations in history. The pain of lost jobs, hunger, hacked salaries, isolation, fear of the future and restriction of individual choices exacerbates the stress.
Enforcement has, in some cases, been brutal and deadly.
The reasoning - explained carefully and fully right at the beginning of this horror show - behind the lockdown is simple: to try to slow, not stop, the spread of Covid-19 and avoid having people dying hideous drowning-like deaths in their thousands in the car parks of overwhelmed hospitals.
We should remind ourselves often that we are not wearing masks and staying locked away only for ourselves: we do it for our fellow citizens, to save lives and acknowledge how important every life is. And to keep the danger as far as possible from the essential workers who turn up every day, making it possible for the rest of us to isolate and stay safe.
South Africans are, for the most part, good people who want to help others. But when the ruled lose trust in the rulers, rebellion begins to bubble.
The constitutionality of some of the regulations has been questioned, and the implementation of those rules is making people angry. That, on top of the financial hardship, and the perception that decision-making is not transparent and fully communicated, is detracting from the reason for the lockdown.
For example, Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel, already taking fire for limiting ecommerce, this week revealed a list of clothing and other "essential" items which were allowed to be sold.
Among these were "crop bottoms", and T-shirts if they were displayed and sold as undergarments to be used as an extra layer to keep warm.
Everyone went wild and Patel and the national command council were called out again for ridiculous and petty edicts.
It emerged soon after that retailers had asked for specifics about what items they could and could not sell.
If this correspondence had been communicated effectively, and people understood and were informed why this list was produced, it would have prevented a tsunami of mockery.
The government is relying on mass obedience to try to limit an enormously dangerous virus.
It must learn - quickly - that a population that has spent decades fighting against issues that deeply affect their lives is not going to suddenly toe the line if there is suspicion of other agendas on the part of those making the rules.
The people should be partners, not the opposition or the enemy. We should be entrusted with essential information, behind-the-scenes reasoning and honesty.
Buy-in from Joe and Josephine Public is vital if we are to tackle this health and economic catastrophe.
- Slogrove is the news editor