Siviwe Gwarube

Dear MyPE In what is a slight to the over a million South African healthcare workers who have battled valiantly against the Covid-19 pandemic under difficult circumstances, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced last night that his Cabinet approved the nomination of the Cuban Medical Brigade for a Nobel Peace Prize for 2021. This is truly bizarre at best and a great insult to South African healthcare workers at worst. No one will ever argue that we cannot express gratitude to international … [Read more...] about Let’s Rather Nominate SA’s Healthcare Workers for 2022 Nobel Peace Prize

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) lawyers wrote to the Presidency seven days ago making the case that President Cyril Ramaphosa has a constitutional obligation – as does his entire Executive – to be transparent about the vaccine acquisition and distribution plan. We committed to approaching the courts for relief should this not be done within seven days. Time is now officially up. Should the President and his team not publicly table a detailed, costed and practical vaccine acquisition … [Read more...] about The time is up for tabling vaccine plan

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) notes the appointment of Deputy President David Mabuza by President Cyril Ramaphosa to head up the inter-ministerial task team to oversee South Africa’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout plan. We do not believe that Deputy President Mabuza is a competent and reliable figure to oversee this process as he has a history of failure in governance: As Premier of Mpumalanga, Mabuza ran the province like his own personal fiefdom where corruption, political … [Read more...] about Deputy President Mabuza incapable and unreliable to oversee the vaccine rollout plan

Dear MyPE Following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement last night, it has become clear that we have no concrete plan for the acquisition of this vaccine or government is concealing crucial information. Either way, this spells a looming crisis for South Africa. Government has announced that 1.5 million doses -which equates to 750 000 people in real terms- will be delivered in the next several weeks. The Oxford Astrazeneca is obtained from the India Serum Institute. We are aware that … [Read more...] about Lack of a clear vaccine plan is now becoming a full-blown crisis

Vaccine acquisition welcomed with the caution that it requires a comprehensive rollout plan Dear MyPE The DA welcomes the announcement made by the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, during this morning’s urgent meeting of the portfolio committee of health that 1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be acquired during the month of January from the Serum Institute of India. This announcement comes at the back of the portfolio committee of health where the DA pushed hard for … [Read more...] about SA Will Acquire 1 Million Doses of the COVID-19 Vaccine

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on President Cyril Ramaphosa to use the opportunity of his impending address to the nation to explain who dropped the ball on the procurement of the Covid-19 vaccine. Reports today indicate that South Africa has missed the payment deadline for participation in the Covid-19 initiative that would have given the country access to the Covid-19 vaccine. It is unclear who has bundled the process between National Treasury and the Department of … [Read more...] about President Ramaphosa must explain who dropped the ball on Covid-19 vaccine

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, to urgently brief Parliament on the situation that is unfolding in the Eastern Cape, specifically in the Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) area. I will be writing to the Chairperson m of the Portfolio Committee on Health, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, to urgently place this matter on the committee’s agenda for this coming Wednesday. The NMB Municipality has seen a rapid rise in Covid-19 cases which are a great cause … [Read more...] about Mkhize must brief Parliament on rising Covid-19 cases in the Eastern Cape

Dear MyPE Health Minister Zweli Mkhize’s late night introduction of amendments to the Regulations Relating to the Surveillance and the Control of Notifiable Medical Conditions, 24 hours before the extended National State of Disaster under the Disaster Management Act expires is deeply concerning. It gives an impression of a government desperate to retain power over its citizens even outside of a legitimate State of Disaster by giving powers to the Minister which will allow him and the … [Read more...] about Amendments to the Health Act give unvetted powers to the Minister of Health similar to a State of Disaster

Dear MyPE This morning the Health Portfolio Committee received a presentation from the Eastern Cape Department of Health on the crisis that is unfolding in the province regarding its health system incapacity. This engagement with the province has proven that over and above the surge that is being experienced, the health system and those in leadership positions in the province, are out of their depth. This admission was particularly concerning considering that the Minister of Health, Dr … [Read more...] about Minister Mkhize confirms Eastern Cape will not be placed under administration to save lives

Dear MyPE Over the past few weeks, we have seen a systemic collapse of the Eastern Cape health system which has placed thousands of lives in mortal danger. That is why the Democratic Alliance (DA) had written to the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, two weeks ago, making the case for the Eastern Cape Department of Health to be placed under administration according to Section 100 of the Constitution. The pace of intervention in this province is causing more senseless loss of lives. In … [Read more...] about Mkhize must place Eastern Cape Health under administration or accept responsibility for preventable deaths

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) has reported the Eastern Cape Department of Health to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to investigate the suitability of the ‘Medical Motorbikes’ that the Eastern Cape Department of Health launched on Friday the 12th of June for patient transport in the province. It is the contention of the DA that these motorbikes are in contravention of section 27 of the Constitution which guarantees access to healthcare and prohibits the state from … [Read more...] about ‘Scootergate’: DA reports Eastern Cape DOH to Human Rights Commission

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) will write to the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize to call for the Eastern Cape Department of Health to be placed under administration in terms of section 100 (1) of the Constitution. In the past several weeks we have seen a province with a broken health system miserably failing to deal with the rising infections of Covid-19. Reports indicate that on Friday during Dr Mkhize’s visit to the province, the Premier, Oscar Mabuyane admitted that the … [Read more...] about Calls for Eastern Cape Department of Health to be placed under administration

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) has noted the comments by President Cyril Ramaphosa during a meeting with the South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef) where he said that the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic laid the groundwork for the implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill. What is clear is that the President and his government are making the argument for the flawed NHI Bill using the global health crisis we find ourselves in. This is an … [Read more...] about President should not use Covid-19 for backdoor approval of NHI Bill