Lungani Zungu
Despite 58,702 South Africans having died due to Covid-19 since last March, EFF leader Julius Malema is hell-bent on going ahead with his mass march for vaccines on Friday.
He told his party supporters to march to the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) to demand vaccines.
Health experts have warned that this would lead to more infections and even deaths in Gauteng, which has the highest active cases.
But it appears the caution has fallen on deaf ears.
Chairperson of the South African Medical Association, Dr Angelique Coetzee, said this was dangerous.
“We are in a very difficult situation as we speak. This is a huge concern for me.”
Experts and scientists have found that mass gathering of people in one place led to the pandemic spreading from one person to the next.
Government, experts and politicians alike have been preaching social distancing since the pandemic landed in the country last year.
But Malema, who has sung the social distance chorus, has changed his tune now.
He called on EFF supporters to ignore the lockdown regulations and attend the march on Friday.
Thousands of his party yes-men are expected to be at the march on Friday, despite the Covid-19 threats.
Dr Mary Kawonga said this was a recipe for disaster, as the third wave has hit hardest in Gauteng.
She said the peak of the third wave was expected in the first week of July.
In a bid to stop the rising Covid-19 cases in Gauteng, acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane asked for additional help from the Military Health Service.
“We have requested additional capacity to assist Gauteng in terms of military help.”
David Makhura, the Gauteng premier, said the province was pulling all the stops to curb the surging Covid-19 pandemic.
Image source: @EFFSouthAfrica
