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President Cyril Ramaphosa. (GCIS)
- The district attorney is ready to file your judicial appeal against the government.
- Helen Zille said the court request was to force President Cyril Ramaphosa to provide details on the vaccine launch plan.
- The party had previously written to the president, demanding that he provide details of the vaccine launch within seven days.
The Democratic Alliance plans to follow through on its threat to take President Cyril Ramaphosa to court, announcing that it plans to present its challenge on Thursday.
DA leader John Steenhuisen has been campaigning for full government transparency about the vaccine launch program.
The official opposition wrote to the president on January 18, giving him seven days to respond to their demands or face legal action.
DA federal council chair Helen Zille, on the party’s weekly webcast “The Inside Track,” said no response had been received from Union Buildings.
READ | Covid-19 Vaccine: DA Threatens Ramaphosa with Detailed Government Implementation Plan in 7 Days
“That was hugely disappointing to the people of South Africa, that a crisis like this where people have donated so much of their personal funds – a lot of us did, I know the district attorney did – all of a sudden he was met with that people cynically used a crisis to enrich themselves.
“We have lost all faith in the ANC to be able to handle any kind of acquisition, much less a launch, and now billions are going to be spent on a vaccine that we ordered just the other day. Ramaphosa wants to get out of jail without a card. blaming the West for ordering on time, we didn’t order on time and now we are blaming everyone else, “he said.
Does the DA ask for full transparency on where vaccine shipments come from? How many doses will there be in each shipment, when will they arrive? What will happen when the vaccines reach the shores of South Africa? How will they be stored and distributed? Who will receive them first and how will you communicate?
“We are asking the court for an order to make sure that Ramaphosa answers the questions that our leader John Steenhuisen has asked him, to which we have not yet had an answer,” Zille said.
The government has been criticized for failing to meet two payment deadlines to join the tail of the Covax initiative.
ANC alliance partners and party leaders also criticized the government for not prioritizing bilateral agreements to ensure timely access to vaccines.
News24 previously reported that the Solidarity Fund was expected to step in to make the payment of R300 million or 15% of the expected cost.
Ramaphosa earlier this month said the government had secured 20 million doses of the vaccine for this year, so far, and that more talks were taking place.
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At an ANC Progressive Business Forum event this month, Aquila Thulare from the Department of Health gave some of the details on the implementation schedule.
He said the vaccination system would be based on a pre-vaccination registration system, adding that the military would be present at administration sites “to make sure we secure this vaccine” and for safety reasons, and that each dose would be tracked and tracked. via a barcode scanning system, News24 reported.
On Wednesday, Health Minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize will lead a public webinar with leading experts that will address “important questions about vaccines.”
The event is scheduled to start at 20:00.
