Opposition political parties have criticised the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic as cases continue to rise.
Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize addressed Parliament on Wednesday on the government's response to the pandemic. He warned that the storm of rising cases had arrived. The country has so far recorded 215 855 cases, 3 502 deaths and 102 299 recoveries as of Tuesday.
Mkhize said Gauteng was expected to overtake the Western Cape as the epicentre of the country's pandemic.
The minister tried to alleviate fear during his address saying concerns over bed capacity were being addressed, although he admitted that the hardest-hit provinces were expected to breach bed supplies within four weeks.
The country's peak is expected in mid-August. Mkhize also said there was enough personal protective equipment for healthcare workers who were on the frontline of fighting the country's pandemic.
All of these reassurances did little to appease opposition political parties with most calling the government's response poor.
The EFF said the government's response to the pandemic would be used as an example of how not to handle a crisis.
The party's MP Omphile Maotwe said the party had long warned of the premature decision to re-open the economy. She said Mkhzie had failed to boost healthcare capacity.
The DA MP Siviwe Gwarube said the party had initially supported the government's health response to the virus but so far the government had failed to beef-up health capacity which was already weak even before the epidemic began.
Gwarube said Mkhize should focus on providing additional funds to provinces to enable the acquiring of additional staff and much-needed resources.
The DA is also calling for the Eastern Cape to be placed under-administration.
"Thirdly, money allocated must be accompanied by strong operational plans and strategies – per province. It is simply not good enough to wait for the explosion of cases when it might already be too late. Those plans must make provision for additional critical care beds, additional staff and testing and tracing capacity," Gwarube said.
IFP MP Sibongiseni Ngcobo said the government's decision to go into a phased-approach to re-opening up the economy had been ill-advised and the rising cases were proof enough.
"The IFP believes that the phased-in approach to the reopening of schools was ill-informed and contributed to the surge in the number of positive cases. We are questioning the rationality of the phased-in approach and the inflexible decision to continue with the matric examinations in November. We demand careful consideration of all alternatives to ensure the wellbeing of our children, teachers, and their families," Ngcobo said.