‘Appalling’ Mpumalanga quarantine conditions in court on Wednesday
AfriForum has accused the government of refusing to test a group of residents at a quarantine camp in Mpumalanga in spite of being offered the assistance of a medical team.
The lobby group says it has arranged for a medical team to visit the Zithabeseni quarantine camp to test approximately 107 residents for Covid-19, but were refused entry.
It has written letters to the Health Minster Zweli Mkhize and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor detailing what they believe to be appalling conditions at the camp.
"The civil rights organisation also demanded that the SAPS should allow the family to be tested for the virus so they could be released and isolate themselves if necessary," says AfriForum’s Ernst Roets, referring to Dr Leon Nel, his wife Melanie and their two children, who recently returned from a vacation in Mozambique.
Roets says the don’t believe the facility meets the standards set down by the World Health Organisation.
"They are also being held there against their will – despite the fact that they haven’t been tested for Covid-19. They are now being told they aren’t allowed to be tested. It is a draconic infringement of human rights that AfriForum will fight in court.”
The case is set to be heard in the High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday.
The provincial health department has refused to comment as they consider the case to be sub judice.
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City Press reported that seven people, who were repatriated from Mozambique in April and placed at the government-owned Zithabeni Resort, claim the department housed them in unbearable conditions. ALSO READ: Hypertension, diabetes, cardiac disease most common co-morbidities in SA coronavirus patients The resort, which initially housed 115 people, is still housing 107 people under quarantine.