IN QUOTES | David Mabuza says government has a plan to curb Covid-19 vaccine corruption

The government has activated whistle-blowing mechanisms through the existing hotlines to curb corruption in vaccine procurement and rollout. 

This is according to Deputy President David Mabuza, who was answering questions in the National Assembly on Wednesday. 

Mabuza said there was no room for corruption when it came to the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines. 

SA started its vaccination programme in February, prioritising front-line health-care workers. The second phase is set to start in mid-March. 

Here are six takeouts from Mabuza's question and answer session:

Government mitigating effects of pandemic

“As the world reeled from the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, the South African government moved rapidly to mitigate the expected health, social and economic affects of the pandemic.

No room for corruption 

“In the acquisition of the Covid-19 vaccines, there is limited room for corruption as the market is highly regulated with very few manufacturers. Furthermore, the vaccines have to pass the stringent quality assessment by the regulator and the procurement is centralised at a national level.”

Plans in place

“Ultimately, we are confident about the effectiveness of the plans we have made and the measures we have put in place to combat any form of corruption. This includes queue jumping, which has been reported in the media as one of the risks.”

Corruption risk mitigation plan 

"We have developed a corruption risk mitigation plan as one of the oversight mechanisms in the implementation of the Covid-19 vaccination plan.

“The interministerial committee (IMC) on Covid-19 vaccines has sought to identify potential risks in the procurement of vaccines, of which we then adopted mitigation strategies required to address such risks.”

Interventionist approach

“Given current fiscal constraints, the interventionist approach government has adopted will go a long way in providing a cushion against the chilly winds of poverty. Hence the government places a great deal of emphasis on employment stimuli, ramping up of investment opportunities and identifying new sources of growth.”

Eskom frustrations

“We have on numerous occasions acknowledged the complexity of restructuring an entity such as Eskom and the amount of time it may take to realise the intended results. The frustrations of the public are understandable.”