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.