DA demands detailed Covid-19 statistics
DA shadow minister of health, Siviwe Gwarube, said that of the nine provinces, only Western Cape and Gauteng were releasing statistic which was broken down into regions, fatalities and the number of tests which were conducted
THE Democratic Alliance (DA) is to submit Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) applications to provincial health departments compelling them to release detailed Covid-19 statistics daily.
DA shadow minister of health, Siviwe Gwarube, said that of the nine provinces, only Western Cape and Gauteng were releasing statistic which was broken down into regions, fatalities and the number of tests which were conducted.
Last month, KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala announced that government would only share provincial statistics to the media to avoid causing panic.
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Zikalala shared detailed statistics during his address two weeks ago, but since then there has not been an update of KZN statistics..
Gwarube says this is unacceptable.
‘Some provinces prefer to withhold statistics from the public for no valid reason.
‘An example of this absurdity is the KZN government claiming that these statistics are embargoed.
Other provinces are either inconsistent in the sharing of information, or it does not happen at all.
‘I have raised the issue of uniformity of data with the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, so that we can understand how many tests are conducted per province and what proportion of the national testing figures this represents, said Gwarube.
‘I have also made a case for transparency with regards to provincial testing strategies so that we can be assured that each province is testing a sufficient number of people.’
Gwarube said information relating to a global pandemic should never be classified.
‘This information from the NICD underscores the importance of having reliable and consistent provincial data.
‘This is critical for public accountability and also guides urgent interventions needed almost in real-time.
‘Information about a global pandemic that is wreaking havoc in our country should never be considered classified. That goes against Section 32(1)(a) of the Constitution which determines that everyone has a right of access to any information held by the state.’
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