Sanco praises government on Covid-19 fight
“Opening of “sin” establishment such as nightclubs and taverns contribute to the spread of the virus,” Sanco says.
The South African Civic Organisation (Sanco) commended the government for extending adjusted level 3 lockdown.
This after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the extension of adjusted level 3 lockdown in a bid to curb the spread of corona virus, which has been the a contributing factor in the deaths of thousands in the country.
“In the rise of Covid-19 infections in South Africa, this was the most logical and responsible step,” Sanco Gauteng provincial chairperson Chris Malematja said in a statement.
He then applauded the president and his government for further prohibiting alcohol sales, citing that easy access to alcohol contributed greatly to the virus spread.
“Opening of ‘sin’ establishments such as nightclubs and taverns contribute to the spread of the virus.”
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He said they were concerned about the rapid rise of infections, even during the adjusted level 3 lockdown, which had been announced by the president in late December last year.
“This is particularly worrying as the schools are about to open and interaction between children could potentially increase the spread of the virus.”
Sanco said it was also worried about reports that Gauteng hospitals were under dire strain.
“Hospitals capacity have been reached and people are forced to be attended in parking lots and other miscellaneous places.”
Gauteng department of health spokesperson Kwara Kekana confirmed that Gauteng hospitals were under strain.
“Hospitals are under strain,” she said.
She said as the country was experiencing the spread of this global pandemic, increasing number of Covid-19 patients, especially those requiring hospitalisation, and staff members suffered from fatigue and were also contracting the disease.
On the other hand, civil rights organisation AfriForum said the most government policies intended to combat the pandemic had been plagued by rampant corruption and mal-administration.
“Therefore AfriForum advocates less government intervention and more community-based solutions,” AfriForum strategy and campaign officer Ernst van Zyl said.
He said AfriForum was closely monitoring the situation regarding the extension of the level 3 lockdown.
“As a civil rights organisation we will take legal action in the case of abuse of power by the government regarding lockdown regulations.”
He then expressed concerns over the alcohol ban, citing that it has yielded undesirable results.
“The impact of the alcohol ban on various businesses has been devastating and this could have all been prevented if it were not for the massive failure on the part of government.”
He said AfriForum’s stance was the government should have expanded hospital capacity in preparation for the second wave, as it promised at the start of the first lockdown in 2020.
“If this had been done, trauma cases related to alcohol abuse would not have been a problem for hospital capacity,” he said.
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