‘Mkhize should pay R120m bill for AstraZeneca jabs from his own pocket’ – MP

We know being a minister in an ANC-run Cabinet is a well-paid job, but it’s highly doubtful that Zweli Mkhize has a spare R120 million lying around. For the Freedom Front Plus, however, that doesn’t matter one jot – and they are holding the head of the Health Department ‘personally responsible’ for the AstraZeneca debacle.

The latest from South Africa’s vaccine debacle

Nine days ago, South Africa’s first batch of vaccines arrived in the country. But on Sunday, the AstraZeneca jabs were pulled from distribution, as doubts were raised about their overall efficacy against the 501Y.V2 variant.

The inoculations are likely to tackle severe COVID-19 cases, but have little impact against mild and moderate infections – meaning that the virus would continue to spread. Zweli Mkhize has since lamented the setback. There was also the small issue of these vaccines ‘having to be used-up by April’, due to their short shelf-life.

Thankfully, however, a new batch of Johnson & Johnson jabs will head to our shores this week, ensuring that the mass vaccination programme can continue. Professor Salim Abdool Karim also said this hiccup was ‘no cause for doom and gloom’ – but FF Plus MP and party health spokesperson Philip van Staden vehemently disagrees.

‘Make Zweli Mkhize pay for the AstraZeneca jabs’ – FF Plus

In a statement issued on Tuesday, van Staden believes that the R120 million spent on acquiring the AstraZeneca vaccine has been ‘flushed down the toilet’ – and the FF Plus representative holds Zweli Mkhize ‘personally liable’ for this particular situation.

“The Minister of Health, Zweli Mkhize, must take full responsibility for the debacle with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and must be held liable for the R120 million which was lost. The government had to halt the roll-out of the vaccine over the weekend seeing as it is not effective against the South African variant of the virus.”

“Approximately R120 million was spent on procuring the 1,5 million doses of vaccine. It now appears that the money might as well have been flushed down the drain along with the vaccine. The Minister of Health must be held liable for the amount of R120 million that was lost seeing as South Africans cannot afford to throw money in the water.”

“If the private sector had been allowed to procure the vaccines, South Africa would not have been in this crisis and would have been saved the embarrassment. The FF Plus’s prediction that the government simply does not have the ability to manage this programme has now become a reality.”

Philip van Staden