EFF condemns the incompetence and murderous inability to speedily facilitate Covid-19 vaccine rollout
25 March 2021
The EFF condemns the ANC government's proven incompetence and murderous inability to speedily facilitate Covid-19 Vaccine roll out. Today, through Minister in the Presidency, Ramaphosa's cabinet announced that it will miss its own target to vaccinate 67% of population by end of 2021. Without 67% of the population being vaccinated, there is no reaching herd immunity and defeating the deadly Covid-19 virus.
This effectively means our people will continue face the deadly disease despite widespread availability of vaccines. More South Africans will suffer sicknesses and others will die purely due to Ramaphosa's incompetence.
This incompetence started with the ordering of the AstraZeneca vaccines that had less efficacy, particularly against the newly discovered variant in December of 2020. It was followed by misleading the public and not openly stating that the now newly ordered Johnson and Johnson vaccine is still on trial in as far as the South African Health regulatory standards are concerned.
During the SONA this year, Ramaphosa deliberately lied to the people of South Africa about vaccines rollout targets whilst he knew that government had no money and no capacity to vaccinate the 67% needed to achieve population/herd immunity. Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize repeated the same lies when answering questions in the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces.
The people of South Africa should know that we are led by LIARS who are obsessed with frivolous PR stunts and empty commitments even when they know they have no capacity to deliver on anything.
Ramaphosa's commitment to Eurocentrism has also seen him refuse or ignore the Russian developed vaccine, Sputnik, which is scientifically proven to have 91% efficacy. According to a peer-reviewed study published in the international science journal The Lancet Sputnik vaccine is 92% effective after two doses (three weeks apart). This is among the highest efficacy rates reported for COVID-19 vaccines, particularly if compared to J&J vaccine which stands at just 72% efficacy rate. There is therefore no reason why South Africa would go for J&J when there is a better option right within the BRICS partners.
Simply because European countries reject Sputkin, Ramaphosa is also committed to drag his feet in acquiring it. This is because he owes his entire thinking and agenda to white business figures (as they funded his presidential campaign) who are also committed to Europe's economic domination. He is committed to give EuroAmerican owned vaccines advantage purely for profit.
BRICS was deliberately created to ensure our world is not economically dominated by EuroAmerica, particularly in terms and trade and production. The availability of a better vaccine in Russia should be used to further the BRICS objectives of breaking EuroAmerican international dominance in trade and economics.
We therefore demand that acquisition of vaccines in South Africa should not focus on vaccines from the West, but must maximally use our BRICS membership to source scientifically tested and proven vaccines from China and Russia. The obsession with Western unproven and weak vaccines must come to an end as this approach continues the exclusion and marginalisation of developing countries from the vaccination programme.
South Africa's slow pace of vaccine roll out will also result in more lockdowns being imposed as different waves of infections rise. Lockdowns, by definition, have a direct impact on the socioeconomic livelihoods of our people. They have already resulted in massive rise in unemployment, closure of many businesses, and huge difficulties in conducting learning and teaching within schools and universities.
The only effective thing about the Ramaphosa administration is looting of all resources meant to ease the impact of the lockdown and Covid-19. Most recently, the Ministry of Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation reported a disappearance of over R300 million meant to relieve artists during these difficult times.
The people of South Africa must realise that at this stage their suffering is no longer due to a health pandemic. Our suffering as a country is now directly due to the incompetence of the Ramaphosa administration and the blame for all the socioeconomic woes flowing from Covid19 must be placed squarely at his feet.
Issued Vuyani Pambo, National Spokesperson, EFF, 25 March 2021
