Statement by Brett Herron, Secretary General of GOOD and Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament.
1 May 2020
——
As we celebrate Workers Day, the report from the South African Municipal Workers Union that at least 50 City of Cape Town employees have tested positive for Covid-19 must serve to remind us that it is our frontline workers who are most at risk. Some have already lost their lives and I convey my heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives during this pandemic.
I am extremely concerned by reports that 9 of the staff who have allegedly tested positive are Law Enforcement Officers who were working that the City’s Strandfontein Internment Camp for the homeless – and more concerned by SAMWU’s allegations “the City has not even bothered to screen people who might have come into contact with the officers.”
From the outset, I warned that the Strandfontein detention centre was inhumane and a cruel approach to providing services for our most vulnerable residents. International NGO Doctors Without Borders have also subsequently confirmed the unacceptably high risk of Covid19 spreading in the crowded conditions of that camp.
The DA needs to come clean on this dirty operation:
– Who came up with this scheme?
– Who was paid more than a million Rand per day to run it?
– When did the City first become aware of staff members who have been at the Strandfontein site testing positive for Covid19?
– Have all the people at the site – especially those now being released – been tested for Covid19?
If the impact of this camp has been to corral the city’s homeless together, have then infected by law enforcement officers, and then release – without tracing or testing people first – then the brains behind this operation deserve to be charged with attempted murder.
ends…
For media enquiries:
Brett Herron: 082 518 3264
bretth@forgood.org.za