No sympathy for dying South African babies

By: Sasha Forbes
25 August 2008

Next week, the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) second Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application for the report into the deaths of 122 babies in the Eastern Cape will be expiring. The DA expects the Health Minister to finally release this report so that the families can know what happened to their children.

Last week 153 people were killed in a plane crash in Spain. In response, the government declared three days of mourning, flags are flying at half pole and the king and queen have paid personal visits to the morgue where the bodies are being kept.
In contrast to South Africa, where almost as many babies die due to dirty water as people were killed in this plane crash. However, nothing has been done. The Minister of Health is still refusing to release the results of the enquiry into their deaths.

The people of South Africa should not have accepted a government which acts with such little concern to the value of their lives – especially when this is contrasted with the care and compassion shown by the governments in other countries.