KZN Suffers Chronic Medication Shortage and Struggles for Essentials
- KwaZulu-Natal residents are facing trouble after trouble due to the ongoing vandalisation of businesses and looting within the province
- Fuel stations and supermarkets have either been looted or have run out of goods that could have been sold to consumers
- An example by a well-known publication was the intense queues outside a Spar in Durban where citizens lined up to purchase essentials
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Citizens in KwaZulu-Natal are struggling to get goods, food and medicine. Scores of malls are either completely closed or looted and WhatsApp groups are packed with questions about which areas are opened.
Various fuel stations are not open and queues are leading back metres upon metres. TimesLIVE reported that scores of people from KZN made their way to Durban North as a Spar supermarket was reportedly open.
Source: Getty Images
Long queues began to form as anxious residents tried to stock up on fuel, medicine and food. The long queues were short-lived as members of the South African Police Service members compelled management to close the doors of the supermarket.
News24 reported that various pharmacies that were also vaccination sites have also been looted. Cipla, a manufacturer of generic medication in Durban had its factory burnt down. A number of patients in the province are now living life without their chronic medication.
Medications for conditions such as HIV, diabetes and hypertension are just a few of the illnesses that could possibly bring on severe Covid-19 symptoms causing the patient to fall ill and end up in hospital.
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It is now illegal to purchase petroleum products in containers
Previously, Briefly News reported that the South African government has just announced that it is illegal for motorists to purchase both diesel and petrol in a container. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy announced the new regulations on Thursday morning.
This comes as the country faces looming shortages of fuel. Retail stores are prohibited from selling petroleum products to citizens in portable containers. The new regulations were just recently gazetted.
On the DMR website, it states that this was done in the 'interests of public safety' in relation to the ongoing unrest. The regulation is issued in terms of section 2(1) (a) read with section 12C(1)(a)(v)(aa) of the Petroleum products Act of 1977.
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Source: Briefly News
