TUMELO MODIBA and PROMIT MUKHERJEE IN the latest wave of panic-buying triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, South African smokers snapped up all the cigarettes they could lay their hands on after the lifting of a five-month ban designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus. As part of a broader easing of restrictions, President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday announced the end of a ban on sales of tobacco products and alcohol, effective from midnight on Monday. Customers, wary of shortages or future bans, bought whatever they could on Tuesday, in scenes reminiscent of panic-buying of groceries at the start of…