Cops charge EFF over march

As the country plunges deeper and deeper into the depths of a third wave of Covid-19 infections, scenes of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) marching to the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) offices in Pretoria on Friday should be condemned in the strongest terms.

More than 2 000 EFF supporters were seen chanting, many with their masks lowered onto their chins and some not wearing protection at all. They were demanding that the Sputnik V and Sinovac vaccines be included in government’s roll-out programme.

Under level three regulations, public gatherings are limited to 100 people outdoors and 50 or fewer people indoors. Whether the EFF has a point over the inclusion of other vaccines is not the point. The bottom line is – groups, political parties and the general public cannot just decide if they want to break the rules in order to accommodate their own agendas.

The regulations – which many believe are far too lax – have been put there for a reason, and we need to adhere to them, whether we agree with them or not.

There are countless other options if we want to challenge them. Blatant disobedience cannot be one, and as acting health minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said, “there must be consequences for those organising such gatherings”.

What’s also disappointing is that EFF leader Julius Malema brushed aside the concerns of the mass gathering, saying: “They are telling us that this event is a superspreader but it is not true ... because we are meeting here outdoors for few minutes, from there we are going home and we comply with Covid regulations.”

Leaders must set an example. With the high infection rate, particularly in Gauteng, you’d think people would be working together to curb infections. But sometimes common sense is not so common after all.