CAPE TOWN, Jan 27 (Reuters) - South Africa's opposition
Democratic Alliance (DA) on Wednesday announced court action to
force President Cyril Ramaphosa's government to release details
of its COVID-19 vaccination plans.
The government has been accused by health experts,
scientists and political rivals of tardiness in procuring
vaccines against the new coronavirus - charges it rejects.
South Africa has suffered a surge in infections driven by a
new, more contagious variant of the virus called 501Y.V2, which
drove daily new cases to 21,000 in early January, although they
have now eased to below 10,000.
"Ramaphosa wants a get-out-of-jail-free card by blaming the
West for having ordered in time. We didn't order in time, and
now we're blaming everyone else," said Helen Zille, chair of the
DA's Federal Council, announcing the lawsuit.
The African National Congress government is already fighting
a slew of court cases, including challenges to a ban on liquor
sales to curb the spread of the virus and to a ban on the sale
of cigarettes - which the government has lost but intends to
appeal.
Zille said South Africans had a right to know where the
government was procuring vaccines, how it would administer them,
and who was benefiting from the process.
Lawyers for the DA had written to Ramaphosa, arguing that he
had a constitutional obligation to be transparent about vaccine
acquisition and distribution, and threatening litigation if he
did not release details by Jan. 25.
A DA official said the court papers were still being
prepared before being lodged at the Cape High Court on Thursday.
The government has said South Africa will get its first 1.5
million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine from India's Serum
Institute this month and next.
On Tuesday, Ramaphosa urged wealthy countries not to hoard
surplus vaccines.
(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; editing by Promit Mukherjee and
Kevin Liffey)