CAPE TOWN - Premier Alan Winde has defended the “mass” protest led by his DA party in Mitchells Plain - an area that continues to show among the lowest numbers for vaccine uptake in the province at just over 20%.
The party’s leader, John Steenhuisen, along with DA mayoral candidate Geordin Hill-Lewis and provincial leader Albert Fritz, were among those leading the protest against Police Minister Bheki Cele’s plan to “hijack local law enforcement in Cape Town”.
However the ‘’mass protest“ was just days after DA Chief Whip Natasha Mazzone called on Cele and the IEC chairperson, Glen Mashinini, to lodge a joint review of ”what appears to be blatant illegal campaigning by the EFF”.
She was complaining about the EFF’s manifesto launch on Sunday.
The Western Cape has officially exited the peak of the third wave, it was confirmed this week.
Asked whether the DA gathering was helping the province in its fight against the pandemic, Winde said: "I haven't seen how many people were at the march, but I'm pretty certain it was within the regulation, and pictures show masks were being worn, I sincerely hope so.
’’So I will say no, I don't think it's irresponsible. I think it's within the framework. As long as we are adhering to distancing rules, wearing masks, catching up on our vaccines, I hope that was part of the message conveyed. I myself will be out on the ground in Mitchells Plain on Saturday encouraging more people to get vaccinated."
The province on Thursday presented a breakdown of Covid-19-related deaths during the recent third wave to share insights on what it learnt.
Admissions and deaths continue to decline, with an average of 80 new admissions and around 25 deaths each day.
“That is why I have called for the termination of the National State of Disaster by President Cyril Rampahosa during my engagement in the President’s Co-ordinating Council meeting.
’’Provincial governments should rather be empowered to manage the response to the pandemic going forward, in line with a differentiated model,” said Winde.
In line with the drop in demand, Winde said they were decommissioning the Mitchells Plain Hospital of Hope and the Metro Mass Fatality Centre.
“We have tailored our response to the third wave in line with clearly identified trigger points to ensure that we protect our health-care system so that we can respond throughout the pandemic,” he said.
“Insofar as our acute service platform is concerned, currently there are 1905 Covid-19 patients in our acute hospitals, with 1 027 in public hospitals and 878 in private hospitals. This excludes persons under investigation and cases in specialised hospital settings.
“The Metro hospitals have an average bed occupancy rate of 92%; George drainage area hospitals at 67%; Paarl drainage area hospitals at 69% and Worcester drainage area hospitals at 65%.
’’Critical care bed occupancy rate for designated Covid-19 beds for the province is at 50%,” said Winde.
Cape Times