Government struggles to procure PPE due to weakened rand, global shortage

Deputy Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla addressed the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) at the National Command Council media briefing on Friday 3 April 2020.

The deputy minister said that government is committed to ensuring that health workers are equipped with PPE, in “both public and private health services”. He explained:

“Most [PPE equipment] are being produced in China and they limited exports as demand was rising. There were also unintended consequences of limitations in the movement of goods and cargo when it comes to personal protective equipment. We’re prioritising front-line workers for that equipment”.

Limited export capacity

Phaahla added that inadequate availability arose “due to lack of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals” as these items are largely produced by the People’s Republic of China.

Not only does travel and export limitation pose a problem, but due to the coronavirus outbreak and limited supply, “China itself has been needing most of the equipment”.

He added that when the disease spread to the US and UK, the demand for equipment escalated in those countries as well. Another challenge is the weakened Rand.

“The demand for this equipment has been rising as these major countries have also been wanting to import from China and other producers”. 

Weakened rand

Our weakened currency “limits the ability to purchase equipment”, he said. Phaahla also explained that government – led by the department of health and the department of trade and industry – are addressing these issues.

He said that government “identified all areas and identified key equipment and suppliers”, and will be working in cooperation with the department of international relations “to get adequate supplies”.

“We’ve put together a centralised system: Equipment is key, especially for the front-line health workers.”

Call on South Africans to comply

Phaahla added that, due to a centralised system being implemented, provinces “shouldn’t be competing against each other in terms of price and supply.”

He vowed that we’d start “to see a lot of improvements in the coming week” and also used the opportunity to express his gratitude for the “compliance of South Africans during the lockdown”. He added:

We want to again appeal to all South Africans: We are far away from a situation where we can say we have overcome [the pandemic]. There are a lot of challenges going forward.

Phaahla urged all South Africans “to make sure all comply to work together and minimise the effect”. The briefing can be viewed here.

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