The City of Johannesburg has reiterated that they provide personal protective equipment (PPE) for their employees; this includes the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD).

They said this after Democratic Alliance shadow MMC for Public Safety councillor Michael Sun said he was shocked and disappointed at the media reports that front line officers of the JMPD now need to ‘dig deep into their pockets’ to buy their own government-procured cloth masks at an inflated price of R50 each.

“This is completely irresponsible and illogical of the City of Johannesburg administration and should be condemned. The City simply cannot expect its front line members to buy their own PPE.

“Furthermore, although the national Department of Health has called on the public to make use of cloth masks, these cloth masks offer little protection, if any, against Covid-19.

“The cloth mask would to an extent be effective in preventing a person from spreading the virus but not from contracting it. A proper medical mask, however, offers protection by blocking droplets in or outwards through the melt-blown nonwoven layer, thus giving more protection against the virus.

“In addition, R50 per mask is close to double what it can be bought for from homemade sellers.

“Why would the City encourage its JMPD officers to buy similar products at such exorbitant prices? We urge the City to investigate this ‘unwelcome sell’ and procure proper PPEs for the JMPD and other front line members urgently,” he said.

The City’s deputy director of media relations, Nthatisi Modingoane, said it is unfortunate that people are using these trying times to spread false and untested information that creates unnecessary confusion.

“We have dedicated our efforts and time to share credible information with the public of Johannesburg.

“We can place it on record that no employee is expected to buy their own masks at JMPD. It is the responsibility of the employer to provide personal protective equipment, a responsibility which the Department of Public Safety is fulfilling and will continue to fulfill,” explained Modingoane.

COURIER also spoke to one of the JPMD officers to corroborate what Modingoane said. The officer said, “It is a lie that we paid for masks. We got them for free.”