Shortly after Health Minister Zweli Mkhize made important announcements on the department’s efforts to acquire more vaccine doses, the EFF retorted with a fiery statement.
It seems, the opposition party has found fault in everything the minister said.
Phased vaccine acquisition is proof of corruption
The Red Berets laid into the government’s apparent inability to secure the necessary doses for all South Africans. For the EFF, phasing the distribution of the vaccine in three parts is admittance from the government that “they have collectively failed to make the vaccine available to all citizens and on time.”
For the government’s inability to secure the needed doses due to a limitation of finances, the party laid the blame squarely on corruption.
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“To this end, the uncontainable thirst to steal public resources has resulted in thousands of avoidable deaths, and will now ascertain to keep the vaccine a distant dream for our people This will unavoidably lead to more avoidable suffering, death and economic decline,” the statement read.
EFF demands access to deals with vaccine manufacturers
The EFF has cornered Minister Mkhize with a number of demands. Chief to this, is access to information sealed by non-disclosure agreements (NDA).
The minister and his department are currently locked in negotiations with a number of vaccine manufacturers, in a bid to secure as many doses as possible, as soon as it’s humanly fathomable.
However, due to signed NDAs, we aren’t privy to anything before the deal has been finalised. This, according to the EFF, is a breach of Section 32 of the Constitution.
‘We demand to know if there has been money given to any manufacturer, for what quantities and for how much. In essence, the minister must divulge all information pertaining to the procurement agreements made with vaccine manufacturers – we demand absolute transparency,” the party wrote.
It’s unclear, at this stage, what the EFF is prepared to do to get the craved attention of the government. However, the party warned that “the minister is obligated to ensure that the information being requested by the EFF is made available immediately.”
