Covid-19: DA submits PAIA to KZN Health Department as Premier continues to deny access to crucial data

30 April 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has today submitted a Public Access to Information Application (PAIA) (view here) to KwaZulu-Natal’s Department of Health (DOH) as Premier SihleZikalala continues to deny the people of the province – and all South - access to comprehensive Covid-19 situation reports.

The Department has 30 working days to respond with the information requested. In the event that it does not, the DA will approach the Public Protector and the Human Rights Commison.

The move comes after weeks of appeals by the DA for the Premier to share crucial information around the pandemic in a bid to both educate and highlight awareness amongst KZN’s citizens.

To date, the Premier has refused to do so, on the basis that it may cause panic in those areas which have been identified as so-called ‘hotspots’. Yet this has not been the case in provinces including the DA-led Western Cape and Gauteng where public user-friendly data per areas has been disseminated.

The Premier’s excuse merely highlights the air of secrecy which has marked the provincial government’s handling of this pandemic to date. This is particularly relevant when one considers the double standards when it comes to the release of infection statistics at private hospitals as opposed to state hospitals. This begs the question – what is this government trying to hide?

While the Premier has now begun releasing a district municipal breakdown, it is not enough. The lack of information made available to the public demands intervention and it is for this reason that the DA has submitted the PAIA to the DoH which includes the call for a breakdown per district, municipality and township of;

The number of positive Covid-19 cases to date and on a weekly basis going forward;

The number of Covid-19 related deaths to date and on a weekly basis going forward;

The number of Covid-19 tests conducted to date and on a weekly basis going forward and;

The number of Covid-19 recoveries to date and on a weekly basis going forward

This is information that belongs in the public domain and the Premier should consider the DA’s PAIA as a warning that we will not tolerate such autocracy. He should also be mindful of the fact that he is already facing criminal charges, laid by the DA earlier this week, after staging a Freedom Day rally at Clairwood Hospital for healthcare workers in direct contravention of lockdown regulations – an event which he later tried to downplay.

The buck stops with the Premier. We are only at the very early stages of fighting this pandemic and it is not too late for him to reconsider his ill-informed position.

It is precisely during difficult times such as this that government should be building a relationship of trust with the people, one where there is a mutual understanding of the nature of a problem and a belief that by working together, it can be managed. This is not possible though if government does not take communities into their confidence.

The DA remains committed to ensuring transparency, on behalf of the people of KZN, when it comes to Covid-19. If our province is to beat this pandemic, it will require the effort of all KZN’s people. The only way in which they can join the fight is if they are armed with knowledge.

Issued by Zwakele Mncwango, Leader of the DA in the KZN Legislature/ DA KZN Spokesperson on the Office of the Premier, 30 April 2020