Covid-19 has put the health department in the spotlight. This is one of the government departments that are performing poorly.
For instance, there is lack of health facilities such as hospitals and clinics in our country. Add to that the shortage of medication and health workers, in particular specialist doctors.
Since the discovery of the Covid-19, the health department is ignoring other health conditions such as hypertension and diabetes. Clinics are running short of medication. This puts patients suffering from health conditions at a risk of succumbing to these diseases.The government has lowered its guard in the health area – not that it has done better in the past.
This is because it is putting everything into the fight against coronavirus, understandably so. However, the health of citizens shouldn?t be compromised because of the coronavirus. But I digress.
When our country attained democracy in 1994, there was hope that the lives of the poor will get better. It was not to be.Instead the rich is getting richer, the poor poorer. And this is becoming normal, but unacceptable.
Poverty is one of the government?s priorities. However, it is not making inroads in this area. And it is not because of lack of policy, but lack of political will. Corruption and mismanagement are the reasons why our democratic government is not making a dent in reducing poverty.
In this era of Covid-19, poor people fear dying of hunger more than they fear dying of the coronavirus. Indeed, poverty is a crime against humanity.This pandemic has raised the urgency that government deals with poverty in our country.In South Africa ? and in other parts of the world ? citizens have lost jobs due to the fourth industrial revolution. And since the discovery of Covid-19, many people have also lost their jobs, and continue to do so. There is a possibility of unemployment reaching 50 per cent.
That means the poverty levels have risen and will continue to rise. Is there a plan to mitigate this challenge.
In the interim, the focus of government is on dealing with the Covid-19 challenge, which is posing a serious threat to the precious lives of citizens. While the focus is there, poor people are suffering and dying of hunger.
The news that councillors are selling food packs meant for the downtrodden is a slap in the face of poor people.Poor people have no other means of getting food and other necessities.It?s even worse that the movement of citizens is restricted due to the lockdown regulations. So, they can’t go hustle or find piece jobs in order to put food on the table.
The government needs to do something urgently to fight poverty in our country.
