Salga donates PPEs to two municipalities

The SA Local Government Association (Salga) has handed over personal protective equipment (PPE) to two Limpopo municipalities, whose residents were among the worst infected by the coronavirus in the province since the advent of the second wave.

Limpopo has five municipalities – Mopani, Vhembe, Sekhukhune, Waterberg and Capricorn, which is the province’s economic hub and home to the capital, Polokwane.

But only two – the Waterberg district and Musina local municipalitites – benefited from Salga’s gesture. The PPEs were handed over by Salga’s provincial chair, Pule Shayi, who is also Mopani mayor, and ANC regional chairperson Norman Mashabane.

He said the handover was made possible by Salga employees in all the nine provinces. He said the employees made a contribution of just over R1,5 million to the Salga Solidarity Fund.

Shayi, who is known as “Mr Clean-Up”, said the contribution was used to purchase PPEs for frontline workers.

The PPEs include masks, aprons, gowns and gloves.

Speaking during the handover, Shayi said: “We identified the two municipalities because Waterberg is a major mining operation in the province and Musina is one of the biggest and [has] Beit Bbridge, the busiest inland border, in the country.

“We therefore make an appeal to all our communities to continue observing Covid-19 health protocols, sanitising, wearing masks at all material times and always observing social distancing.”

Advising the province on measures to curb Covid-19 infections, Shayi said it was important for everyone to stay at home and only go out if and when it was necessarily. He said going out of yards should be a last option. When going out, people must always wear masks and observe Covid-19 protocols.

Shayi said it was important for people to enter only businesses that sanitise their customers at all times. “We must also play our part by reporting to the police, municipalities or to health institutions any failure of people to adhere to the pandemic protocols.”

Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba said Limpopo has recorded 977 deaths.

She said the province has suffered an additional 238 deaths following the final capturing by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases.

“Of this number, 160 are from private facilities, while 78 come from public facilities,” the MEC said in a statement.

“This is indeed a difficult time for the people of our province because we have seen up to six deaths happening in one family,” she added.