Long queues have formed outside shops selling alcohol in South Africa as restrictions on its sale are lifted for the first time in two months.
Social media posts showed people cheering and clapping as buyers emerged clutching their bottles.
Some people said they had queued overnight.
People are banned from singing in churches, which are also reopening, but they were in full voice at one liquor store.
Alcohol-related violence is a big problem in South Africa – the ban was introduced to free up the police and hospitals to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
Infection rates in South Africa still appear to be rising.
People are only allowed to buy alcohol for consumption at home and only from Monday to Thursday.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has said a controversial ban on the sale of alcohol would be lifted for home consumption when the country moves into level three of a five-tier coronavirus lockdown next month.
South Africans were prohibited from buying alcohol and cigarettes when the country went into one of the world’s strictest lockdowns on 27 March.
The ban was meant to prevent a spike in violence and reduce pressure on emergency wards as hospitals gear up to face a virus that has infected at least 22,583 people across the country and killed 429.
“Alcohol will be sold for home consumption only under strict conditions on specified days and for limited hours,” Mr Ramaphosa announced in an address to the nation.
“The sale of tobacco products will remain prohibited in alert level 3 due to the health risks associated with smoking,” he added.
South Africa started gradually easing confinement measures on 1 May, allowing citizens to exercise outdoors in the morning and some businesses to partially resume operations.
Mr Ramaphosa said the alert level would now be lowered from level four to three from 1 June, with a “differentiated approach” to deal with “coronavirus hotspots”.
Most sectors of the economy will be able to reopen fully under “strict health protocols” and “social distancing rules,” the president had promised back in May.
