First, there was social development minister Lindiwe Zulu’s ill-advised jaunt to Melrose Arch – and the similarly imprudent Instagram video of the event. Back in the heady days preceding lockdown, when we were asked to stay home rather than ordered to do so, Zulu showed scant regard for Ramaphosa’s plea to contain the spread of the coronavirus, instead taking to social media to bewail the strictures of social distancing. For her efforts, she was forced to make a public apology.

Communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams found herself the star of a similarly short-sighted Instagram post – this one showing her out on a lockdown lunch, in breach of the regulations. This time there was a public dressing down and two-month suspension (one without pay). With any luck she’ll use her time out to figure out the spectrum rollout her department has been promising for years.

Water minister Lindiwe Sisulu has also taken to social media, and not just to show off the immaculate grooming that should accompany one’s culinary endeavours during lockdown. She’s proudly documenting her efforts to ensure “every corner of Mzansi will have water to help fight the spread of #Covid19inSA, even after the pandemic subsides”.

All of which would be admirable, were it not for the fact that it’s 26 years into democracy and access to water is a basic right. One would really have hoped that, by now, the water department and its minister wouldn’t be quite so blatant in demanding adulation for getting around to finally doing to its job.

Then there’s cabinet’s perennial manchild, transport minister Fikile Mbalula. Not one to let ignorance stand in the way of hubris, he’s flip-flopped on taxi capacity and protective face masks. And in the midst of the lockdown, he took the social distancing directive to a whole new level by bringing large numbers of people together to highlight the importance of being apart.

These transgressions, while indicative of those ministers’ cavalier attitude to their duties and the public that funds their position, may be relegated to the realm of farce. But defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s hand-waving impotence at the alleged abuse of civilians by members of the defence force speaks to a concerning lack of oversight of one of the most potent levers of state. Police minister Bheki Cele’s exhortations to his forces have been altogether more disconcerting. Just days into lockdown, when the police had been accused of heavy-handed tactics, he was reported as vowing: “Wait until you see more force.”

And now we are. As of today, the tally of civilian deaths during lockdown, allegedly the result of police action, has reportedly reached at least eight. The police officers using rubber bullets and sjamboks to enforce the lockdown in Hillbrow told reporters from the Mail & Guardian and amaBhungane that they were following orders from “the top”.

Just last weekend Cele, in his crusade to keep South Africans sober, threatened to “destroy the infrastructure where liquor is sold” – itself an illegal act. It underscores that his is a dangerously martial mien – tyranny in a blue coat – that has so far gone unchallenged by the one institution that is supposed to check the executive: parliament.