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By Siviwe Feketha 
48m ago
Durban – As opposition parties and organized workers continue to criticize the government for its handling of the strategy to secure on time and launch an effective Covid-19 vaccine, the National Freedom Party has threatened to take the government to court. to defend his favorite drug. .
The NFP is lobbying the government to purchase the drug Ivermectin and distribute it to citizens as a treatment while waiting for a vaccine.
On Sunday, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize indicated that South Africa had already acquired Covax, which would arrive early in the first quarter of the year. Approximately 10% of the population would be vaccinated.
Mkhize said a financing strategy was in the works with the private sector and there were negotiations with other manufacturers to obtain more vaccines to help vaccinate 57% more people. He said the government planned to immunize 67% of the population before the end of the year to develop herd immunity.
NFP MP Ahmed Munzoor Shaik Emam said the party was prepared to wage a legal battle if the government refused to guarantee that Invermectin would be given to South Africans who contracted the virus while the country waited for a vaccine.
“Many people are dying, and infections now average around 17,000. By the time this vaccine arrives, many people will have died. If there is worldwide evidence that this drug is working, we don’t understand why we are not using it, ”said Shaik Emam.
The NFP, through its lawyers, Stress Naidoo Attorneys, threatened to take Mkhize to court if he does not respond favorably to his request to discuss his preferred medicine as a vaccine for South Africa.
The party noted that the Covax vaccine was expensive and had not yet been approved by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA).
However, the antiparasitic drug Invermectin is illegal in South Africa because it has not been approved by the SAHPRA. However, the NFP insists on a hearing with Mkhize and immediate drug testing by SAHPRA.
Attorney Prabashni Subrayan Naidoo said: “If we do not receive a favorable response from you before the close of business on Wednesday 6 January, we are instructed to approach the South African High Court for urgent help.”
Last month SAHPRA stressed that it had not approved Invermectin and that any attempt to import it into South Africa would be illegal.
“Ivermectin is not indicated or approved by SAHPRA for use in humans. There are no confirmatory data available on ivermectin for use in the management of Covd-19 infections, ”SAHPRA said.
The NFP’s push comes as Cosatu and its biggest affiliate, Nehawu, joined political parties in criticizing Mkhize for its launch strategy for the Covid-19 vaccine: They accused the government of failing to accelerate the procurement of effective vaccines. .
Cosatu’s national spokesperson, Sizwe Pamla, accused Mkhize of making vague commitments during his briefing on the vaccine’s procurement and distribution strategy in South Africa.
“What the minister presented is nonsense and the country should not accept it. South Africans are familiar with blatant political failures, with deadly consequences, as we saw with the mismanagement of the AIDS pandemic, ”said Pamla.
He accused the government of participating in a “public relations exercise.”
“This hides the fact that there are 40 countries that have already started immunizing their people, some since December, and others are South African peers in the middle-income group,” Pamla said.
Nehawu Secretary General Zola Saphetha said the government was “caught sleeping as we grapple with a deadly pandemic that has killed millions of people around the world.”
Political Bureau
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