The attack on Dr NDZ is misguided and borders on ignorance and deliberate dehumanization of her character.
1. Dr NDZ is a medical doctor by profession. She took an oath to save lives.
2. Dr NDZ is one of the Ministers in NCCC.
3. The council is chaired by President Ramaphosa.
4. Dr NDZ therefore can't make unilateral decisions outside the command council.
5. Our chauvinistic people choose to humiliate a woman who is a member of a committee chaired by a man. They don't criticize and humiliate the man on the issues he presides on. Very strange and suspect trend.
6. Tobacco is dangerous to our health. That's a fact that has nothing to do with Dr NDZ. Tobacco is also said to be dangerous to Covid19. Again Dr NDZ is not responsible for this. WHO has warned against the use of cigarette during this pandemic. This is a fact. No leader, therefore, who cares about her people can promote the use of cigarette during this dangerous period.
7. The trauma units of hospitals are always overcrowded by people who have been stabbed by drunk people or because they were drunk. Other people come from accidents on the road etc. During this lockdown period there's ample visible evidence of hospitals's trauma units relatively not under pressure from such incidences.
8. Already health workers are under pressure from covid19 patients. This can be worsened if alcohol is allowed. Health workers are humans as well with families and loved ones. What would happen if they were to get sick and stressed in big numbers? Who will take care of patients?
9. When we fight over cigarettes and liquor do we think about the strain this will bring to health workers and to hospitals in general. Already some hospitals are beyond capacity. Some health workers are positive and away from work. Some health workers opt to protect their families and stay at home.
Who is going to stay long at hospitals we don't know. So why add more burdens, deliberately so.
10. Instead of the nation talking about how best to assist hospitals and health workers some people deviate the attention wrongly to Dr NDZ. The focus is now on a certain person rather than on the strategy to deal with this pandemic. Dr NDZ didn't invent covid19.
11. We are loosing it as a nation by allowing people who simply don't care about human lives to destruct our attention.
The City of Cape Town hospitals are said to be full to the brim especially ICUs and we are busy with petty personal fights. The Covid 19 numbers are climbing daily and that should collectively be our concern .
May the good Lord help us all to be sober🙏🏽🙏🏽
Dr.N. Dlamini