The last time I checked, the job of the president and his cabinet was to lead the country. Yet on too many occasions our “leaders” don’t seem aware they have been given more than adequate powers to lead. Instead of doing so, they hold meetings, consult and then hold press conferences to announce they will consult even more.
Lead? No, that’s not for them.
Nothing illustrates this malaise better than events beginning on Thursday when health minister Joe Phaahla held a press conference and announced a new Covid-19 variant had been detected in SA. Phaahla was clear: “You can rest assured that as people move in the next coming weeks, this [variant] will be all over.” Now here is the thing. Phaahla and the government have been warning about a fourth wave and possible Covid-19 variants for months. When new cases started picking up, they knew the inevitable was happening: a fourth wave was here.
When scientists told them about the variant, they were supposed to first and foremost ask themselves: what is our plan of action to counter the spread of this variant and to communicate its detection to the world?
What is intriguing about Phaahla’s statement on Thursday is that there had not been any serious engagement by cabinet members, the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) or much of government’s top leadership regarding the implications for SA in the presence of such a variant. Even though this variant is a game-changer in the ongoing war against Covid-19, there was no concrete action (apart from the repetition of wishy-washy messages for all South Africans to get vaccinated) instituted by government.
There was no leadership. The only admirable thing about the announcement was that we are a transparent country, unlike China and others which have hidden information from the rest of the world on the genesis and spread of this virus. Other than that, our government made the announcement about the variant and sat on its hands.
President Cyril Ramaphosa needs to decisively implement vaccine mandates for all adults. Those who refuse to vaccinate should not be allowed to fly, enter state premises such as hospitals, supermarkets and other facilities
By Friday morning the UK had banned flights from SA, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia. By Friday evening Phaahla, tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu and numerous others in cabinet were moaning that the travel bans, replicated by the EU and others, were unjustified.
That is true, but it does not answer one question: what were our leaders doing about combating this variant and pushing back against a fourth wave? In his briefing on Thursday Phaahla offered nothing. Then he made the announcement the NCCC was set to meet on Sunday, as if there was no crisis.
Only when the world was closing its doors to us on Friday did our political leaders wake from their collective slumber and move the meeting up to Saturday. All the while the matter of a new variant of concern was of no consequence to our leaders. It only became concerning because the Brits and others were taking action that was punishing to us.
The truth is that we should lead. We should lead by being first in the world to mandate vaccination for all adults.
There is a lot of fearmongering that people will rebel against vaccine mandates. It’s not true. In October headlines focused on the Swiss Guard’s “refusal” to vaccinate. In truth, a mere 2% of the force left over the mandate. In France only 0.1% of health workers refused to vaccinate. In New York, where there was much noise among members of the city’s police department, who threatened to leave if a vaccine mandate was imposed, only 0.3% carried out the threat.
The truth is that our leaders need to lead. The science has been clear that though there isn’t a vaccine that is 100% effective against any disease, the vaccines we have in SA reduce the odds of becoming infected and far reduce the risk of death.
For nearly two years the state’s response to the pandemic has been to shut down the economy. That is no longer viable. Too many people are losing livelihoods. We are turning ourselves into a country of beggars with these lockdowns. President Cyril Ramaphosa needs to decisively implement vaccine mandates for all adults. Those who refuse to vaccinate should not be allowed to fly, enter state premises such as hospitals, supermarkets and other facilities.
It’s hard to do, but this is an emergency. The president and cabinet must lead.
We are at a stage in our country where we must make some tough choices. Continue along the same old path and watch as the country implodes? Or do something decisive to get our country working again. Lead.
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