The Citizen reports that trade union Solidarity says it will send an urgent letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Coronavirus Command Council about government’s apparent plans to promote black empowerment in the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines.  

President Cyril Ramaphosa reportedly told the ANC’s top six officials and the Progressive Business Forum last week that the rollout of vaccines in SA would provide an opportunity for black empowerment.  Anton van der Bijl, the head of legal service at Solidarity, on Tuesday indicated that the union was against race being part of the country’s Covid-19 vaccination programme.  He said the involvement of black businesses should be because they were going to help in an efficient way, and not because they were black.  “There’s no time for politics at this point in time. The first and the most [important] thing must be ensuring that everyone, to the extent that the state can, has a vaccine,” Van der Bijl stated.  Solidarity said the WHO had a duty to advise the SA government on how to use the most efficient methods during the current pandemic.  Solidarity and lobby group AfriForum are also going ahead with their legal action against Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma over a lack of transparency with government’s Covid-19 vaccine plan.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thapelo Lekabe at The Citizen

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