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- The DA has laid out its plans to force the government to publicize its plans to obtain a Covid-19 vaccine for the country.
- DA has written to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, with direct questions about South Africa’s participation in the vaccine program.
- A request will also be made to Health Minister Zweli Mkhize in terms of the Access to Information Promotion Act to request all relevant information around a detailed vaccination plan.
Whether the government likes it or not, the DA will push for South Africa’s Covid-19 vaccine plans to be made public.
This is according to the party’s health spokesperson, Siviwe Gwarube, who, along with DA leader John Steenhuisen, announced plans on Friday to force the government to publish its plans to obtain a Covid-19 vaccine for the country.
The DA’s steps come after News24 reported earlier this month that South Africa has yet to make an estimated payment of 500 million rand to an international initiative to ensure access to Covid-19 vaccines for higher income countries. low.
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According to a Bloomberg report, South Africa missed a December 15 deadline to make a deposit that would secure vaccines.
Fin24 reported that the National Treasury and the Department of Health remained silent after the news of the missed deadline.
“We are not yet commenting on the vaccine. The minister will address the media at the appropriate time. The country is still on its way and there is nothing to suggest that we are at risk with regard to securing the vaccine,” the spokesperson said. of the Department of Health. Popo Maja on Thursday.
Gwarube said:
“Executive action cannot simply be without consequences. Whether they like it or not, that is a culture that they accept or not … the reality is that they are obliged to share information and that is why you have constitutional provisions. It is important that an executive share his actions, the justifications for the actions he takes. “
Steenhuisen said that as countries struggle to acquire the vaccine, South Africa has not done the same.
Securing the vaccine for South Africa as soon as possible should be the government’s number one priority right now. However, South Africa has missed the deadline for a deposit at the Covax vaccine facility, not once, but twice. It is unacceptable that the government’s delay is jeopardizing our access to the vaccine, ”he said.
Steenhuisen said that when questions were asked in Parliament to President Cyril Ramaphosa and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, the details were vague.
The National Treasury and the Department of Health remained silent on Thursday following news that South Africa missed its deadline for paying a deposit to secure a Covid-19 vaccine through the Covax coalition. | @ End24 https://t.co/JCRkJKQcDg
– News24 (@ News24) December 17, 2020
“They have simply told us that the government is taking care of this matter. It is clear, given the news of another missed deadline, that the government has not addressed this matter and that both President Ramaphosa and Minister Mboweni have apparently misled the nation about this process, ”Steenhuisen said.
He said that “just a few days ago” Ramaphosa, in a speech to the nation, said that the country will receive initial vaccines to cover approximately 10% of the population, “… in the first part of next year.
“He further said that the government had ‘completed all the necessary processes to ensure their participation in the World Health Organization’s Global Covid-19 Vaccine Access Center,” Steenhuisen said.
Steenhuisen claimed that Mboweni also apparently misled Parliament on this issue.
I told these DA guys that they need to first inform themselves before opening their mouths out loud about things they don’t know anything about. They are simply tjatjarag! I will ask @Julius_S_Malema We are on our way with the vaccine consortium. I don’t need DA’s nonsense!
– Tito Mboweni (@tito_mboweni) December 18, 2020
He will request that Parliament’s Ethics Committee urgently investigate these apparent falsehoods by the president and his cabinet, “… which have effects that threaten the life of our nation.”
DA finance spokesman Geordin Hill-Lewis has written to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), with direct questions about South Africa’s participation in the vaccine program.
GAVI coordinates the Covax funding mechanism for poor and middle-income countries.
“The government has been lacking with the details of where we are in this process. Instead, we have focused almost exclusively on short-term strategies based entirely on constraints and a lockdown model, ”said Hill-Lewis.
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