Glenda Gray, a member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19, screened and vaccinated, at UCTs Lung Institute. Twitter@SABreakingNews
Mkhize disbands Ministerial Advisory Committee on Covid-19
South Africa recorded the largest number of infections in Africa, with more than 4.1 million people tested out of a population of 59 million.
Glenda Gray, a member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19, screened and vaccinated, at UCTs Lung Institute. Twitter@SABreakingNews
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has disbanded the government’s scientific advisory committee on COVID-19, some of whose members have been openly opposed to the state’s measures to tackle the pandemic.
Members of the Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) on Covid-19 were advised by letter this week that the group is being “reconfigured,” Committee members Francois Venter of the University of the Witwatersrand, and Glenda Gray, CEO of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), confirmed Saturday.
The disbanding follows Mkhize’s announcement on 14 September that he would reconstitute the committee.
The 51-strong committee, headed by Professor Salim Abdool Karim, was created earlier this year to advise Mkhize on how to handle the pandemic.
Some members of the Committee including Gray and Venter, disagreed with the government’s decision to curb economic activity in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.
Gray’s criticism of some of the measures as “unscientific” in May prompted Mkhize to accuse her of lying and led to a spat between the government and the academic community.
Shabir Madhi, another MAC member who heads up the South African arm of a vaccine trial, has also been critical.
South Africa has recorded the largest number of infections in Africa.
More than 4.1 million people have been tested, out of a population of 59 million.
The rate of coronavirus infections has slowed markedly over the past month, prompting President Cyril Ramaphosa to announce a move to Level 1 of lockdown regulations.
