ActionSA donates R2.7m worth of PPE to fight Covid-19 as cases surge

Herman Mashaba's ActionSA donated R2.7 million worth of PPE.
Herman Mashaba's ActionSA donated R2.7 million worth of PPE.
Image: Freddy Mavunda Business Day

As SA gears up for the fourth wave of Covid-19 infections, ActionSA donated R2.7m worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) to non-governmental organisations in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni.

Donated items included cloth face masks, hand sanitisers and face shields. 

Party president Herman Mashaba said the donation would help alleviate the public health crisis brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and the spike in infections due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

He said the NGOs were chosen based on their reach at a national level.

Mashaba said the ANC had not done enough to equip the health system to respond adequately to the pandemic.

It is appalling, and a scathing indictment on the governing ANC that civil society organisations such as ActionSA have had to step in to perform what is essentially the government’s job.”

He also took a swipe at politicians who were fingered in corruption and fraud relating to PPE tenders at the height of the pandemic last year. 

“At the very beginning of the pandemic, cadres hurriedly registered companies. Their friends in high political offices helped them to loot taxpayer funds meant to purchase these very same products and ensure that South Africans are protected. To date, many of the looters roam our streets as free men and women, some still on the government’s payroll,” he said. 

Mashaba urged South Africans to play their part in preventing the further spread of Covid-19 through vaccination.

President Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced the government's response to the rise in infections.

He said the healthcare system was stocking up on oxygen supplies for beds earmarked for Covid-19 care and implementing the national resurgence plan to ensure hospitals had the capacity to accommodate patients. 

“We are focusing on effective clinical governance, contact tracing and screening, effective clinical care, and availability of health personnel. To ensure our facilities are ready, all hospital beds available or required during the third wave are [being] prepared for the fourth wave.” 

On Tuesday, labour and employment minister Thulas Nxesi announced the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) recommended mandatory vaccinations at workplaces and public venues where a risk assessment shows a need. 

This follows a call by Ramaphosa for South Africans to vaccinate. He said SA could not afford to ignore Omicron and future variants.

“We realise the introduction of such measures is a difficult and complex issue, but if we do not address this seriously and as a matter of urgency we will continue to be vulnerable to new variants and will continue to suffer new waves of infection,” he said in a national address. 


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