Government’s breathtaking bungling in not securing the Covid-19 vaccine quickly enough is a testimony to the incompetence, mismanagement and lack of accountability that has become the standard mode of governance.
The costs of the vaccine not coming on-stream early translate to the deaths of people who could have received the vaccine, the social costs and the jobs lost, and those who bumbled the decision should take personal liability.
Even though four vaccine trials have been under way in SA, the government has only arranged to purchase enough shots for 10% of the population through the Covax initiative, a global project to ensure equitable access to vaccines.
Before Christmas 2020 more than 40 countries had already started immunising their citizens, including developing countries. Mexico, Chile and Costa Rica on December 24 began vaccinating their populations, with frontline healthworkers and nursing home residents receiving the first shots. Chile is among many countries that last year signed many bilateral deals with pharmaceutical companies, not just with one, as in the case of SA, which signed up for Covax only.
The government’s mishandling of the Covid-19 and vaccine acquisition is now turning out into another HIV/Aids scandal, if not worse.
It is very likely that because of ongoing government incompetence and the lack of accountability, the stated target to immunise 3% to 10% of the population by June 2021, already a dismal target, is not going to be met.
The government’s mishandling of the Covid-19 and vaccine acquisition is now turning out into another HIV/Aids scandal, if not worse, with more fatal consequences in terms of deaths, job losses and declining economic growth.
Perhaps Cosatu responded best to health minister Zweli Mkhize’s half-baked explanations: “What the minister presented is bunk, and the country should not accept it. South Africans are familiar with the egregious policy failures with deadly consequences as we saw with the mismanagement of the Aids pandemic.”
India last week donated 1.5 million Covid-19 vaccines to SA. The Canadian government promised to give some of its excess vaccines to SA. It is, of course, something to be grateful about that Canada and India donated to SA, given the extraordinary incompetence of our own government.
Nevertheless, it was deeply embarrassing to see the begging bowl President Cyril Ramaphosa, like a leader of a typical failed African state, getting promises of handouts from Canadian PM Justin Trudeau.
Ramaphosa last week also complained that African countries were blindsided by rich countries in the race for the vaccine. That is of course true, but most African countries are incompetently run by corrupt leaders, governments and non-merit-based public services, leaders who are not investing in their people and only in themselves, and who when in a crisis run to industrialised countries for help.
When Western countries criticise African countries for incompetence, corruption and abusing their citizens, African leaders quickly accuse these countries of “imperialism”, white monopoly capital and inequality.
If government does not bring disciplinary measures to the bunglers in the health department and treasury, ordinary citizens, organisations and Covid-19 victims should consider taking the individuals responsible and government to court for punishment.
South Africans are just too lenient when holding government, leaders and governing parties accountable in specific incidents, and that’s why incompetence, mismanagement and corruption continue.
We have to call out incompetence, mismanagement and corruption, publicly, persistently and loudly. And then we have to force individual accountability in a very public way. Names of the individuals who made the decisions must be publicly released. Citizens should revolt in public protests over this.
ANC members, supporters and voters have to hold the government accountable on these issues. There should be no resort to blaming the typical outside bogeys such as the outsized financial power of industrial countries who got the vaccine ahead of SA.
Responsibility should be taken for the deadly incompetence related to the failed acquisition of the Covid-19 vaccine and the strategy. This is pure and simple incompetence from both the finance minister, health minister and senior officials in these departments. This deliberate silence around and obfuscation of the issue in subsequent press conferences by the president, the health minister and the finance minister have just been pathetic.
Victims of Covid-19, whether those who died or whose businesses closed down, should personally take legal action against the government to recover some losses, although losses will of course never be fully recovered. Mkhize and finance minister Tito Mboweni should publicly explain how the bungle happened, who was responsible and how they are going to be held accountable. Mkhize and Mboweni, as the executive offices, should also be disciplined one way or the other by the president for this deadly blunder that happened under their watches.
William Gumede is associate professor, School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand; and author of Restless Nation: Making Sense of Troubled Times (Tafelberg)
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