Johannesburg, 1 August 2021 (TDI):
The governing party of South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC) on Friday said that despite their support for the scientific investigations into the origins of COVID-19, they oppose the politicization of the inquiry. The concern over the politicization of the inquiry was expressed by the South African Minister of Social Development and chairperson for the International Relations Sub-Committee in the ANC National Executive Council, Lindiwe Zulu.
According to Zulu, the Research into the origins of the virus is important from a scientific and global health policy perspective and it should not be used as a smoke-screen for geopolitical contestation that has nothing to do with ending the pandemic or understanding how to prevent future pandemics.
She also added that COVID-19 has killed many people and resulted in vaccine nationalism by high-income countries and urged countries to rebuild solidarity as this is the only way to effectively combat the spread and destruction of the virus.
