City Press reports that government wants to have looters who stole dying patients’ chronic medication charged with murder in cases where those patients died.

This comes after not only 90 pharmacies were looted in the recent public violence, but also medicine factories and warehouses from where medicines are distributed, especially in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The Covid-19 vaccination programme also came to a near halt in the province due to the violence. Medical staff could not reach their workplaces because of the riots and a fuel shortage. While about 40,000 people a day were previously being vaccinated in KZN, the average dropped to barely 4,000 a day due to the violence. There was also a decrease in Gauteng from about 44,000 vaccinations per day to about 35,000 on Tuesday and Wednesday when townships in the province in particular were targeted by rioters. Several vaccination centres closed as a precaution over fears that protesters would target them. By Friday, the KZN health department still could not indicate when the centres would reopen. The police told the parliamentary portfolio committee on policing on Friday that they were guarding vaccine supplies to ensure looters did not steal or destroy them. The SA Pharmacy Council reported that Covid-19 vaccines had been lost due to the looting of pharmacies in KZN and Gauteng, but could not say how many doses had been stolen or destroyed. The Office of Health Standards Compliance (OHSC), which is tasked with ensuring the safety of health workers and users of health services, said the impact of the looting in KZN and Gauteng was going to hit the health system hard.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Dawie Boonzaaier at City Press

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page