DURBAN - THE DA has laid criminal charges at the Durban North police station against Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane after she was seen at her surprise birthday party without a mask.
The party on Monday opened the case in terms of Sections 36.1 (a) and (c) of the government-issued Adjusted Alert Level 3 regulations during the Covid-19 lockdown.
DA provincial leader Francois Rodgers said they laid formal charges against Simelane in light of the “slapping of the wrist” meted out to her by Premier Sihle Zikalala.
The MEC was given a 50% salary cut and asked to make a public apology. Rodgers said this was insufficient punishment for her in amid a pandemic and while people were dying.
Rodgers was accompanied by DA health spokesperson Dr Rishigen Viranna. “We have a regulation. We are facing a pandemic, Covid-19. What is the point if we flout those regulations and there is no consequence? In particular, the MEC for Health should lead by example, which she clearly did not. The video is evidence of that.”
He said that Zikalala had also flouted the regulations by attending former president Jacob Zuma’s trial in Pietermaritzburg and a similar event unfolded in Nkandla, where senior ANC leaders of the provincial government were breaching regulations.
“So what is the point of the Health MEC and the premier telling you and I to wear your mask at all times and make sure you social distance?
“It’s like there are two laws. One for members of the ANC and one for the rest of us. It’s just not good enough.
“Her complete lack of remorse to date will no longer be tolerated. While there are citizens in our province being arrested for not wearing masks, the Health MEC – who is the face of the campaign against Covid-19 in KZN – is ignoring them,” Rodgers said.
Public Servants Association of SA provincial manager Mlungisi Ndlovu said the MEC had accepted her mistakes. He said Zikalala’s penalties would send a message not only to the MEC but to all officials who did not comply with Covid-19 protocols.
Daily News