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Thandi Modise, president of the National Assembly.
- National Assembly Spokesperson Thandi Modise says South Africa’s Covid-19 vaccination plan may be discussed in February.
- Modise denied the district attorney’s request for an urgent debate on the matter before the end of the year.
- The chief prosecutor, Natasha Mazzone, noted the urgency of the matter and will ask Modise to reconsider.
South Africa’s Covid-19 vaccination plan concerns all South Africans and warrants continued oversight by Parliament, said National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise, denying the district attorney’s request to reconvene the House for debate. urgent about the plan before the end of the year.
Modise said it can be debated in February after Parliament reconvenes.
On Tuesday, the head of the prosecution, Natasha Mazzone, wrote to Modise with a request in that regard.
Mazzone said South Africans were initially told that vaccines covering up to 10% of the population will be administered in the first quarter of 2021, but in his address to the nation on Monday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that South Africa had been “warned that we should expect vaccines in the second quarter of 2021”.
“Along with reports that South Africa missed its second payment deadline for the World Health Organization vaccination program; indications for large-scale PPE [personal protective equipment] corruption; And our government’s generally poor record when it comes to handover, it is not unreasonable to worry that South Africans will be left behind as the rest of the world opens its now Covid-free economies and resumes normal life in 2021. “
Urgent debate
Mazzone said that an urgent debate of national importance will allow members of Parliament to involve cabinet ministers such as Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini- Zuma, on the plans of their respective departments and the alternatives they considered. .
On Wednesday, Modise responded.
READ | DA wants the National Assembly to reconvene for an urgent debate on the Covid-19 vaccine
“Rule 130 of the National Assembly prescribes that a member may request the Speaker to schedule an urgent debate on a particular matter, but the member must give reasons why it should be dealt with in terms of this rule and it cannot be carried forward by other means.” , Modise wrote.
“In this sense, the norm establishes that the Spokesperson must apply certain criteria when exercising her discretion.”
Vaccine implementation plan
He said South Africa’s participation in the Covax vaccine procurement system is confirmed, but Mkhize has yet to provide details on the vaccine implementation plan.
“The launch of a Covid-19 vaccination plan is a subject of constant concern for all South Africans and warrants continued oversight by Parliament.
“Given that the vaccine will now be available in the second quarter of 2021 as directed by the executive, I believe this debate should be accommodated when the National Assembly reconvenes in February,” Modise wrote.
He added that the Programming Committee of the National Assembly will schedule the debate in terms of the rules.
DA not impressed
Mazzone was less than impressed.
“South Africans deserve to know the details of the government’s vaccination plan, and they deserve to know immediately, because we cannot afford any more waves of infections or continued blockages.
He said Parliament should not be content with waiting for the executive to arrive with the answers in its own time.
“Urgent accountability is required, and Parliament is failing to do its duty by not demanding responses. The district attorney will write to the president today, urging her to reconsider scheduling the vaccine debate,” Mazzone said.
ANALYSIS | Parliament in the year of Covid-19
“Just as the second trimester is too late for the vaccine, February is too late for a debate of this importance. The president’s decision shows that the ANC still does not understand that time is of the essence and that we are out of it. “
Parliament rose for the year in the first week of December. The rules of the National Assembly allow Modise to reconvene the assembly “in exceptional circumstances” and after consulting with the leader of government affairs, Vice President David Mabuza, and the whips of the party allow the House to sit down.
In December 2019, the Prosecutor’s Office unsuccessfully requested an urgent debate on Eskom’s ongoing blackouts after Parliament raised the year.
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