'Stop playing around, flirting with Malema': DA MPs hit back at Mboweni for missing vaccine deadline again

Finance minister Tito Mboweni recently tweeted himself into hot water when he accused DA “loud mouths” of spreading misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine, saying he would ask EFF leader Julius Malema to “deal with them.” 

The minister was responding to a statement by the DA in which it slammed him and the government for allegedly missing the December 15 deadline to pay the deposit towards the COVAX vaccine programme.

“I told these DA chaps they must first inform themselves before opening their loud mouths about things they know nothing about. They are just tjatjarag [talkative]! I will ask Julius Malema to deal with them. We are on track with the vaccine consortium. I don't need the DA['s] nonsense!," Mboweni tweeted on Friday.

DA MPs Ghaleb Cachalia and Geordin Hill-Lewis told the minister to do his job and stop with the “threats.”

“You’re absent on the job. How is it possible the national treasury still hasn’t issued a letter of guarantee for COVAX? Stop playing around flirting with Malema and just get the letter signed and sent. That’s all,” Hill-Lewis tweeted  in response.

Cachalia questioned whether Malema's EFF was an ANC paramilitary wing used to “threaten” MPs who oppose the ruling party.

On Friday, the DA said the SA government, unlike other countries, had done little to secure the vaccine.

“Countless countries are scrambling to acquire the vaccine. Countless countries except one — SA. Securing the vaccine for SA as soon as possible should be the government’s number one priority right now.

“However, SA has missed the deadline for a deposit on the COVAX Facility, not once, but twice. It is unacceptable that the government’s tardiness is jeopardising our access to the vaccine,” said the DA.

Health minister Zweli Mkhize said on Friday the payment delay was due to administrative and technical processing. He  assured the nation the deposit would be paid “in the next two to three days.”