The ANC Caucus has condemned DA interim leader John Steenhuisen’s call to end the nationwide lockdown amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The party’s chief whip Pemmy Majodina said the levels of incitement by the DA Leader and his calls for civil disobedience cannot go unchallenged and remain reckless and childish.
“Politicizing COVID – 19 interventions smacks of high levels of political immaturity and should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve”, said ANC Chief Whip, Pemmy Majodina.
South Africa has so far recorded over 9 400 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 186 deaths. The Western Cape, the only province run by the DA, remains the country’s epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, having reported 4,809 cases and 95 deaths as of Saturday.
Although the country eased the nationwide lockdown from level five to level four on May 1, allowing certain businesses to resume operations, the ANC has urged Cape Town and other high-risk areas in the Western Cape to be placed back under level-five restrictions.
On Friday, Steenhuisen, in a fiery address, said the national lockdown was unnecessary as the real tragedy ‘playing out here is no longer the coronavirus, but the lockdown itself.’
“We are also mindful that dozens of other countries have imposed curfews such as the one that is currently in place in South Africa,” she said.
“We must continue to stick to the World Health Organization preventative measures and refuse to be side- tracked by reckless politicking that does not value lives,” said Majodina.
“Thus far; across the world, over 3.4 million people are known to be infected and more than 240 000 have died. Here in South Africa, we have just over 180 casualties, yet to the DA this is an opportunity to end the Lockdown yet current scientific modelling show that the infection rate will continue to rise at a much faster rate in the coming months. We are also mindful that dozens of other countries have imposed curfews such as the one that is currently in place in South Africa.”
The ANC called for sanity to prevail within the DA and for its leader to desist from making short-sighted calls when the moment requires calm heads and decisive leadership, she said, adding Steenhuisen must focus on what is happening in the Western Cape and must not mislead the country.
“We thus urge all peace loving and patriotic South Africans to stay focused on the bigger goal of flattening the curve and saving lives,” said Majodina.
(Compiled by Inside Politics staff)
