Johannesburg - ActionSA president Herman Mashaba says the government has failed to address the economic consequences wrought by the coronavirus pandemic and has joined calls for vaccinations to begin.
Mashaba gave his party’s alternative state of the nation address ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address on Thursday.
The party leader said the country was bound to experience further waves of the pandemic because of a lack of action on vaccinations.
“We need to procure enough doses of the vaccine, manage its distribution effectively, and vaccinate enough of our people. Until then, we will be subjected to a 3rd, a 4th and probably a 5th wave of infections, further overwhelming our health facilities and cause many preventable deaths,” he said.
Similar calls were echoed by DA leader John Steenhuisen on Monday during his party’s pre-emptive Sona address.
Opposition political parties have issued growing calls for the government to provide a detailed vaccination plan.
This is despite presentations by Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize explaining that SA would still be pursuing the first phase of its vaccination drive aimed at vaccinating healthcare workers.
Mashaba criticised the government for what he believes was poor handling of the pandemic, saying they were concerned with issues such as cigarettes instead of procuring much-needed healthcare services.
“While we were in lockdown, businesses closing and over 2.8million jobs lost, the ANC government failed to honour those sacrifices. Instead, our people continue to suffer, and ANC cadres continue looting and getting rich... ”
Mashaba said Ramaphosa also had to focus in his speech on fixing the economy. The businessman said the Cabinet needs to be reduced; struggling state-owned enterprises should be fixed or let go of; and that the bail-outs of South African Airways should be stopped.
Mashaba, whose party plans to contest this year’s local government elections, said coalitions were the trend for the future and that the ultimate solution was to remove the ANC in as many local municipalities as possible.
Politiccal Bureau