State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo says the Western Cape is geared to continue with the COVID-19 vaccination programme for both healthcare workers and the general population when the country starts its second phase of vaccinations later this month.
Dlodlo was speaking after visiting vaccination sites at the Khayelitsha and Groote Schuur hospitals in Cape Town.
Minister Dlodlo inspects vaccine sites in Western Cape:
She’s been deployed as a member of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Vaccines to inspect and monitor the vaccination rollout programme. Minister Dlodlo says in terms of safety around vaccines, everything is in order.
“What I’ve seen is a province ready to rollout the vaccination programme with a lot of work done. I get the impression – I came with some of my staff working around the clock that measures put in place to ensure there is safety all round for vaccines and also protocols for safekeeping are adhered to, is effected. So I am happy with what I see.”
Dlodlo says the COVID-19 pandemic should not be used as an excuse to postpone Local Government Elections in October.
Her remarks come amid calls from some political parties, such as the EFF, for the elections to be postponed to 2024.
At the weekend, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni tweeted about the dangers of election rallies, door-to-door campaigning and voting lines amid the coronavirus outbreak. He says the elections should be postponed to save lives.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has previously said that there is no Constitutional provision to postpone elections.
