Eastern Cape premier Mabuyane leaps to defence of under-fire health MEC

Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane has thrown his weight behind embattled health MEC Sindiswa Gomba, saying she has been leading the team of officials fighting the spread of Covid-19 from the front.

This is the latest indication that Mabuyane does not plan to recall Gomba, who has been sharply criticised for the province's handling of the pandemic.

Addressing the media after a closed meeting with Gomba, health superintendent-general Dr Thobile Mbengashe, doctors from the NCID and officials in East London on Saturday, Mabuyane defended Gomba, saying she had done well so far, HeraldLIVE's sister publication DispatchLIVE reports.

“That's why I find it strange when people start calling for the MEC's head. It's people who don't understand what's going on. The MEC has been leading the team and the team from national got here to find her leading already. They didn't get here to find a leadership vacuum,” he said.

The ANC Youth League in Nelson Mandela Bay was the latest to call for the axe to fall on Gomba.

The premier said the province started preparing for the coronavirus even before there was a confirmed case.

The health department has 2,000 beds in hospitals, he said, adding Volkswagen SA had promised to avail a field hospital that would have 4,000 beds while there would be more beds at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium which would also be used as a facility for Covid-19 positive people.

Mabuyane said 8,000 people have been tested in the Eastern Cape so far. Commenting on the Majola village case, Mabuyane said the only reason they found out 40 people had been infected was because the provincial government had embarked on a mass screening and testing campaign.

The premier admitted there were “discrepancies” in the reporting system as the national government and Bhisho are sometimes not on the same page.

This, he said was because the statistics they report were a day late as workers are out on the field. Mabuyane criticised how some hospitals had handled the virus.

“I see there is a bit of weakness from some hospitals and how some CEOs are managing them.”

The premier reiterated the calls to keep mourners less than 50. He said families should have private funerals (ukuqhusheka) then have a service at a later stage.

Mabuyane lashed out on people whom he said were hell-bent on breaking the lockdown regulations by having traditional ceremonies and funerals — even likening it to murder. He stressed that they were doing their best to flatten the curve.

“Our people must understand that there is no government that can be reckless and want to kill them,” he said.

Gomba said every funeral should be treated as a Covid-19 death.