Stop the back-peddling and blame-shifting, and deliver the vaccine!
18 January 2021
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will not retract or apologise for the statement we issued last week on the Department of Health’s (DoH) suggestion that National Treasury had caused delays in vaccine procurement.
We note the statement issued today by the DoH in this regard. We can only conclude that the attempt by the DoH to shift blame has been met with an angry response from Treasury, and they are now trying to back-peddle.
We do not care about the petty intrigues of Cabinet squabbles. What we do care about is government’s unforgivable failure to secure a supply of vaccines for South Africa, and the lives this will cost. This delay, dithering and blame-shifting would not happen under a DA government. The DoH should spend less time fighting with the Treasury and the DA, and spend more time delivering the vaccine!
For the record, the DoH’s statement conveniently ignores the quotes from the Financial Mail (which the Department incorrectly identifies as the Financial Times) story which make their position clear: