Opposition parties have waged attacks on the ANC and President Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing them of dragging the country through an abyss as the economy continues to take a battering.
They also warned against the vaccine roll-out, saying there was no time left, with millions of people still needing to be given jabs.
But the ANC has stuck to its guns that it was on the right track to get the economy going despite a sharp decline in recent times.
This comes as EFF leader Julius Malema has called for the postponement of the local government elections this year due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
DA MP Geordin Hill-Lewis said the economy was in turmoil despite Ramaphosa saying R773 billion has been secured in investments.
“Last week, in his address, he told us that total pledged investment is now an incredible R773bn. What are these investments? Where are they?” asked Hill-Lewis.
He said if this was the case, then the skylines of major cities would be dotted with cranes.
UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said the scale of corruption left a lot to be desired.
He said the government had clamp down on people fleecing the state of millions of rand.
IFP President Emeritus Mangosuthu Buthelezi said they were concerned about the vaccine roll-out.
“We are racing against time. Our people are desperate for a vaccine. We are pleased to hear that the first 80 000 doses will arrive this week. But in a country of almost 60 million people, it offers little hope. How will the vaccine be accessed by ordinary people? When will it be available? In the absence of details, and in the presence of corruption, our nation has very little trust,” he said.
“I must repeat the insistent call for the vaccine roll-out tender process to be overseen by Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts. Parliament must be enabled to perform its constitutional responsibility of oversight. We have to halt the ‘business as usual’ of maladministration and fraud,” Buthelezi added.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said the government had secured vaccines that would enable them to vaccinate people that need to be inoculated.
The government has been indicating it wants to give jabs to 1.2 million health-care workers. They would then move to essential service workers and other people.
They want to vaccinate 67% of the country’s people by the end of the year.
Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu said they supported the decision to extend the R350 grant for the unemployed.
This was after Ramaphosa announced last Thursday that the grant would be extended for another three months.
The department of social development has said this grant has cushioned 6.5 million people.
Political Bureau