Eastern Cape Premier – Oscar Mabuyane has warned that August could see the doubling of positive cases in the province.
Mabuyane has conceded that corruption is derailing the provincial government’s efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
The province has 75,067 cases of COVID-19 and 1,545 people are reported to have died.
The Premier has warned that August could see the doubling of positive cases in the Eastern Cape, a situation which, he says, could overwhelm the capacity of its healthcare sector.
“I have instructed provincial treasury to conduct investigations into provincial departments on COVID-related procurements levelled against state organs or individuals. We invite members of the public who have information of corruption or wrongdoing to contact provincial treasury or the SIU immediately.”
Dr Thobile Mbengashe, Head of the Provincial Health Department said the next few weeks will be critical as the pandemic is expected to shoot to its peak in the Eastern Cape.
He further said:
“We have created more ICU beds and we are making sure that even rural hospitals have got the oxygen they need. We have planned for the worst and hoping for the best that we think we should be able to recover and be able to provide good service to the people of the Eastern Cape.”
In the video below, SABC’s Yanga Funani filed the story:
