EFF: Ramaphosa presided over death of our people
The EFF has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to start work on building a new economy now that the national state of disaster has come to an end.
Ramaphosa announced that the state of disaster, which came into effect at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, will be lifted after being in place for 750 days.
Some regulations would however remain in place for 30 days to allow government to transition to the Health Act.
EFF spokesperson Leigh-Ann Mathys says government cannot claim the state of disaster was a success.
“Ramaphosa failed to build a single hospital. Instead a hospital (Charlotte Maxeke hospital in Johannesburg) burned down on his watch, and it burned down during the peak of the epidemic.
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“It was Ramaphos’s spokesperson who was implicated in the PPE corruption to the tune of R125 million. It was his minister of health, implicated in the corruption scandal, to the tune of R150 million.
“It must be stated clearly that Ramaphosa presided over the death of our people. “
Mathys says government’s primary goal should be to build “a new economy”.
“A new economy that will not be based on these neoliberal policy perspectives, because the pandemic revealed the role of the state in development and in industrialisation, and this specific need for a state pharmaceutical capacity.”
Mathys also warns the EFF will carefully scrutinise the National Health Act.
“We will ensure that this government does not smuggle regulations into law, which will give them power to micromanage the political terrain and enhance their ability to conduct illegal and corrupt procurement.”
