Duduzane Zuma says that the strict Covid-19 lockdowns have been used as a convenient excuse to mask government’s failures to properly implement fight back strategies against the deadly pandemic.
He has also warned the government that the longer it persists in keeping citizens locked down the more it will be out of control of the ensuing chaos in the country.
Zuma’s statements came in a no-holds-barred shared on the Instagram page of his close associate Winston Innes, in which the 37 year-old son of the imprisoned former ANC and State President says that his father’s imprisonment was conducted without due processes being followed.
In the five-minute long video, Duduzane also takes a swipe at the government for failing to adequately respond to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and resorting instead to imposing harsh lockdowns on the country’s citizens.
“Those people that are out there sitting on your high horses and talking about lockdown as the right thing and talking about what’s happening and this being the rule of law, guys let’s keep it simple here, people are struggling out here. They’ve been struggling way before Covid.
“Covid is a convenient excuse. Covid is real, don’t get me wrong, people are dying and we've lost loved ones. I’m not taking that lightly, but lockdown is not something that’s going to eradicate Covid in the short term,” Duduzane hit out.
He said that the country’s leaders had failed to deal with the issue of Covid in terms of the planning and implementation of fighting against the pandemic, adding that the government should not expect to suffer because it has failed to do its job as the people responsible for putting measures in place.
“The budgets were there, where are they at now? The systems, we heard about all sorts of wonderful plans for that to happen so whilst you’re getting your house in order, let people live, let people go and enjoy their lives, let people go out and earn and feed their families.
“The longer you keep people locked up or locked down, is the quicker you’re going to find yourself out of control in this country, you’re going to have a handle on the situation, you can lock us all down but unfortunately you’re not serving the people, you’re serving yourselves and this is a big issue,” Duduzane said.
He also lamented that “the funds that were supposed to have been distributed to people living in dire straits” had not been distributed.
“I urge you guys, put your laptops and iPads, put your spreadsheets down, drive around, if you don’t know where to go jump in a car with me and I’ll take you exactly to these places where you’ll see what the devastation is,” Duduzane said.
He went on to add that for South Africans the enemy was starvation, poverty and unemployment and that locking down the citizens was not a solution and that it never has been and it never will be.
“We’re not going to outrun Covid, we’re not going to outstarve Covid, Covid is here to stay and it’s something that we’ll need to live with. The only decision that you have at this point is to open up, there’s no other way.
“We interact with people all the time, something that you should be doing, and people are just looking to earn. They’re not looking for favours, they just want a fair opportunity to get out and fend for themselves, give them that opportunity. That’s the choice you have to make,” Duduzane Zuma concluded.
Political Bureau