SA now marks a year since the Covid-19 pandemic hit our shores and the subsequent pronouncement by President Cyril Ramaphosa that the country will embark on the hard lockdown never experienced before.
It’s important that as a country we do some introspection and take stock on how SA has fared in the fight against the scourge of the coronavirus and the containment of its spread to citizens.
Equally so, it’s fundamental to note that our country embarked on one of the hardest lockdown with the strictest regulations than most of the countries on the continent and in Europe have experienced. Also, it’s crucial that we should note how the citizens and all and sundry received and accepted government decisions to lock down the country.
The government decision to lock down the country at the beginning of the pandemic was well received by the business community, religious sector, labour federations and, most important, the citizens themselves with the understanding that the lockdown was meant to save lives, and to halt and contain the spread of the coronavirus. Everybody hailed the government decision as groundbreaking and vowed to work with the authorities to defeat the demon of coronavirus.
Albeit a small section of our communities and some rogue elements within the security forces cluster who went overboard, and tormented the public, most people respected the decisions of the government and observed the regulations as spelt out under the Disaster Management Act.
The wheels started to come off when some in government, particularly some ministers who are members of the coronavirus command council, started to talk incoherently with mixed and confusing messages – to some extent with messages that did not make sense.
Who can forget the ban on cigarettes, the roasted chicken ban, ban on duty free sales at the airport for those who are leaving our shores, the ban on export, particularly wine, and other commodities which has proved to be detrimental to the economy, and the impact of which we are still reeling from.
Then all these mishaps resulted to a free-for-all situation with a number of litigations against government decisions and regulations by the cigarette industry, liquor industry, some political parties, particularly the DA, among those who took the government to court.
It is therefore within this context that the veil of secrecy surrounding the comprehensive rol-out-plan of the vaccine by the government doesn’t inspire confidence in its citizens. The inoculation programme in our country is running far behind schedule compared to some of the countries on the continent such as Rwanda and Uganda, to name a few. SA with all its sophisticated and modern infrastructure, is lagging behind. Actually, our vaccine roll-out programme has come to a halt.
Citizens deserve better on how the process is going to unfold. The government has an obligation to remove all the secrecy and inform the public accordingly about the roll-out strategy plan. Our public servants, who are more than a million, and particularly the health workers, can’t be blamed for their apprehension and anxiety on the issue of the vaccine roll-out.
Ramaphosa and health minister Zweli Mkhize should take the country into their confidence and pronounce a crystal clear and coherent message with all the necessary time-frames with regard to the roll-out strategy plan for the vaccines.
• Mgcina, the ANC Sedibeng regional task team coordinator, writes in his personal capacity
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