This comes after trade union Solidarity and lobby group AfriForum threatened government with legal action over the red tape in the purchase of jabs by the private sector.

Both groups asked the court to declare unconstitutional any legal exclusion of the private sector.

In government's replying affidavit, deputy director-general Sabelo Buthelezi states that "there is nothing in the Covid-19 response presentation which purports to be a legal prohibition on private persons and institutions or provincial health departments from procuring Covid-19 vaccines."

 AfriForum's Ernst van Zyl says this admission is a game-changer.

 "The government has now admitted under oath in its court documents that there is no statutory restriction on the private sector regarding the purchase of vaccines. There is now legal certainty that the private sector may purchase and distribute vaccines, a huge setback for looters.

 "The fact that it is taking legal action to force government to answer important questions about an urgent matter that can save lives, proves how little value the government really attaches to transparency. This case once again proved how vital watchdogs for civil society, such as AfriForum and Solidarity, are in the ongoing battle to protect human rights in South Africa," van Zyl adds.

The government announced at the start of the vaccine procurement strategy that they'd be the sole purchaser of vaccines and distribute it to provincial governments and the private sector.

AfriForum and Solidarity cried foul on what they called the 'nationalisation' of vaccines.

"AfriForum and Solidarity will continue to hold the government liable and accountable and will continuously act as watchdog to ensure that the government makes fair, transparent and legal policy decisions."

The Department of Health (DoH) was not immediately available for comment.

SABC News reported the Deputy Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla says the government has not prevented the private sector from purchasing coronavirus vaccines, saying it was the manufacturers that chose to work directly with the government in procuring the COVID-19 vaccines.

Phaahla, together with the Deputy President David Mabuza in his capacity as the chairperson of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on COVID-19 vaccines, visited the Biovac Institute in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

The facility is a Public-Private Partnership between the government and Biovac Consortium whose focus is on ensuring the country’s capacity to respond to both local and regional vaccine needs.

This comes as AfriForum and trade union Solidarity called on the government to allow the private sector to purchase and distribute coronavirus vaccines.

The groups recently approached the High Court to force the government to give clarity on the legality of the state’s centralisation of the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Phaahla says, “I don’t know where this matter arises because whether you go to the UK it’s the UK government which buys AstraZeneca from Pfizer, it’s just the manufacturers are themselves comfortable with that arrangement.”

Jacaranda News