Cape Town - The DA leadership's stance on the need for a localised restrictions during the Covid-19 resurgence in the Western Cape has been slammed.
The approach was criticised as members of the ad hoc committee on Covid-19 engaged in a debate on the committee’s report of its activities over the last eight months.
Committee member Brett Herron (Good Party) said: “The early and hard lockdown is widely regarded as the right call and as having assisted our country from collapsing under the worst of possible scenarios.
“The DA leadership was unable to resist the political opportunities the restrictions presented and some DA leaders embraced and promoted herd immunity theories. Now our province faces a surge in infections. The so-called second wave. And as the premier contemplates the need for a local lockdown to contain community transmission, the DA leader says there is no evidence it works.”
Rejecting the report, ANC provincial Health spokesperson Rachel Windvogel said: “The report had been superseded by the present resurgence of the killer pandemic … The ANC cannot accept the report as it is and what it stands for. The committee has its work cut out to deal with the resurgence, conduct more critical oversight and hold the executive to stringent account.”
Tabling the report, committee chairperson Mireille Wenger (DA) said the structured approach the committee adopted had given it “the necessary teeth to really unpack the impact of Covid-19 on the Western Cape”.
Wenger said: “Our work as the legislature, in response to Covid-19, is by no means done. We are cognisant of our role to play as parliamentarians with a duty to oversee the work of government, especially at a pivotal moment in history as this.
“We didn’t just hear from the government. We listened to citizens of this province, and we spoke to survivors of Covid-19 and their experiences of stigma, and their care in the health-care system. We asked members of the public to tell us what they thought of the government’s response, and 17 000 people responded.” said Wenger.
Cape Argus