MBOMBELA – The provincial African National Congress (ANC) leadership has fired a broadside at the provincial Democratic Alliance (DA) leadership “of using a global health crisis which threatens the existence of humankind to score cheap political points.”
According to acting provincial chairperson, Mandla Ndlovu: “This is happening when everyone in the world, including their national leadership, is seized with the task of searching for solutions to reduce the adverse impact of this crisis.
“The irresponsible statement issued by Ms Jane Sithole titled: “Inaccurate Covid-19 data may lead to premature lifting of lockdown in Mpumalanga”, is a clear indication that the DA in Mpumalanga is either misinformed or ignorant.
“The DA is not assisting nor is it working to try and flatten the curve, but running around issuing these unfounded statements during these sensitive times when all political parties should be working together.
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“The DA Spokesperson, Ms Jane Sithole, has no information and we would like to call on her to join in this fight of Covid-19 ,as this will assist her to familiarize herself with the Processes and Systems of Reporting as it relates to the Management of the virus by the SA health sector.
“The ANC, therefore, calls on the DA and its legislators in the Province to be responsible and desist from the act of attempting to create doubt on the Provincial Health Department’s capacity in responding to this crisis.
“We call on all stakeholders and members of the general public to reach out to the Department of Health and all other Departments for any piece of Information or to make any valuable inputs in our Response Strategy.
“The Government alone cannot fight and defeat this invisible enemy, but requires constructive action from all,”concluded Ndlovu.
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This is what the provincial DA said:
DA provincial leader, Jane Sithole – “This is the only province where the number of infections either increases or reverts to a lesser number every day. For the last four weeks, official positive cases have been fluctuating between 20 and 23. This causes confusion and panic amongst the residents.
“So far, the provincial Department of Health has manageHealth MEC Sasekani Manzini and her department have on several occasions published incorrect Covid-19 stats, and the residents of Mpumalanga do not know which infection numbers to believe.
“The DA is concerned that false, inaccurate or incomplete data could mean that lockdowns could be lifted too soon, which could have a catastrophic consequence for the people of Mpumalanga. It will also eliminate any gains made that the initial lockdown has had and the sacrifices that have been made will amount to nothing.”
