Ramaphosa must fire the reckless Ndabeni-Abrahams

For a long time, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson seemed less than worried about the growing coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe.

At one stage, he was even shaking hands with people, after medical advice was not do to so.

It is also true that many around the world did not take the Covid-19 threat seriously in its initial spread outside China, where it originated.

UPDATE: Ramaphosa places Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams on partly unpaid special leave

And, of course, Johnson didn’t make any of his moves or statements unilaterally: he would have been following advice from his government’s medical experts, which was evolving all the time.

So, while it is ironic that he has ended up in intensive care after being struck down by corona, it can’t be said to be his fault.

However, his hospitalisation does show that the virus has no respect for status, wealth, gender or race.

If you are cavalier about social distancing, you will be infected. If you’re lucky, you’ll feel bad for a while; if not, you’ll die.

That’s a lesson for our own Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, minister of communications. She appeared in a social media post having dinner with former deputy education minister Mduduzi Manana, apparently violating the lockdown restrictions.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, you have no option: you must fire this woman for her recklessness.

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