Image: Western Cape Gov.
Faizel Patel – 08/02/2021
The South African Medical Association (SAMA) chairperson Dr Angelique Coetzee says the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) revelations about personal protective equipment (PPE) tender corruption including sub-standard equipment provided to healthcare workers is very troubling.
Coetzee was speaking to Radio Islam on Monday about the strain healthcare workers face on the frontline, without proper PPE equipment.
Healthcare workers and especially nurses and doctors have been dealt a blow as they struggle to keep up with the daily increase in the number of COVID-19 infections.
The SIU on Friday revealed they are investigating several companies involved in PPE tender corruption to the tune of R13.3-billion.
Coetzee says not having the proper PPE equipment is putting the lives of healthcare workers at risk.
“You only need to look at the amount of healthcare workers getting infected to understand that there is a problem. So the problem can be lying with the PPE and also during lunch breaks and tea breaks that the healthcare workers then abandon them to protocols also making them to contract the virus from each other.”
Coetzee says while President Cyril Ramaphosa honoured the Cuban healthcare workers for a Nobel Peace Prize, South Africa’s own frontline doctors and healthcare workers who continue to put their own lives on the line while working in unbearable conditions should also be acknowledged.
“While we do not take away that the Cuban doctors are working hard across the country and across the world, in our country we have our own unique problems. There are doctors and nurses who work selflessly and they are not acknowledged. We should rather acknowledge the people in our own country for their contribution towards getting people helped during COVID-19.”
Coetzee says all it takes is a mere “thank you, I understand” from all South Africans to acknowledge the work that doctors, nurses and healthcare workers are doing to keep people safe during this pandemic.
Listen to the interview with Dr. Angelique Coetzee
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