Parliament, Sunday, 22 August 2021 – The Portfolio Committee on Health concluded its two-day oversight visit in KwaZulu Natal (KZN) where it visited Phoenix’s Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital. The committee assessed the extent of the damages to the hospital as a result of the recent destructions and looting that took place last month in the province.

The Acting Chairperson of the committee, Mr Tshilidzi Munyai, said the oversight visit in KZN provided the committee with an opportunity to see the extent of the damages caused by the recent unrests. The committee also received a briefing from the Provincial Department of Health and its MEC on the measures that have been put in place by the department to address the destructions that happened in the province.

Mr Munyai reemphasised that the vaccine roll out programme is a national duty and a moral obligation to ensure the vaccination of the South African population, and it is of utmost importance that the committee with other role-players, must add its effort in the mobilisation of the South African society for vaccination. With the rise of infections, “the country can only fight the pandemic through vaccination of the people and by following safety measures and protocols that are put in place by government”.

Mr Munyai has called upon the provincial department of health to accelerate the wheels of vaccination in the province to ensure that the rest of the population there is vaccinated as the epidemiologists and scientists are warning about the inevitability of the fourth wave. He said vaccination is a national duty and a moral obligation by all South Africans.

The committee will from tomorrow conduct its oversight programme in Gauteng.

The programme of the oversight is as follows:

Monday, 23 August 2021 

09:10-10:30 Oversight at Tembisa Hospital

11:30 – 12:30 Oversight at Atlas Road, Kempton Park Drive Thru Vaccination Site

13:00 – 13:30 Oversight at 49 West Street, Houghton Drive Thru Vaccination Site

14:00 – 15:00 Meeting with MEC of Health at 45 Commissioner Street, Johannesburg

ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE ACTING CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, MR TSHILIDZI MUNYAI.

For media inquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Ms Yoliswa Landu
Parliamentary Communication Services
Cell: 081 497 4694
E-mail: ylandu@parliament.gov.za