President Ramaphosa and MPs must be Covid-19 vaccine guinea pigs

Posted on June 26, 2020 by Black First Land First

Black First Land First (BLF) calls on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Gates foundation) to stop exploiting the poor through their sponsored Covid-19 vaccines in South Africa (SA). The Gates foundation is targeting poor black people through cash incentives with their vaccines. This is unethical! The poor are too desperate for financial relief to be in a position to give informed consent.

We call on President Cyril Ramaphosa, Members of Parliament (MPs) and wealthy white people to subject themselves to the Covid-19 vaccine trial. Let them risk their health and be the guinea pigs.

Wits and Oxford universities need to do serious self introspection. They must allow good ethics to guide them and not seek glorification at the expense of the poor black people.

It is bizarre that the Ramaphosa government would opt to endanger the lives of the poor and put them on the line for personal interests, knowing very well that these vaccines might be dangerous, while Madagascar has produced an effective remedy for Covid-19. This conduct leaves us with one conclusion! The vaccine trial is a material endeavor and is driven by personal interests in making profits.

Issued by Black First Land First, National Coordinating Committee of (BLF NCC)

26 June 2020

Contact Details

Black First Land First Mail: [email protected]

Zanele Lwana
(BLF Deputy President)
Cell: +27 79 986 7225

COVID-19 R350 Grant: BLF’s outstanding questions & call on poor to apply

Posted on May 12, 2020May 12, 2020 by Black First Land First

Social development minister Lindiwe Zulu

Yesterday the Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, announced the following revised criteria and payment methods for the Special COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) Grant of R350 for the poor:

1. The Grant of R350 per month is payable from May to October 2020 to qualifying applicants.

2. The grant is available to South African citizens, permanent residents or refugees registered on the Home Affairs system, who are resident in the country;

3. An applicant must be: ‘above the age of 18’; ‘Unemployed’; ‘Not receiving any income’; ‘Not receiving any social grant’; ‘Not receiving any unemployment insurance benefit and does not qualify to receive unemployment insurance benefits’; ‘Not receiving a stipend from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme’; and ‘Not resident in a government funded or subsidized institution’.

4. Provision of the following information is compulsory: ‘Identity Number/Department of Home permit’; ‘Name and Surname as captured in the ID (and initials)’; ‘Gender and Disability’; ‘Banking details – Bank Name and Account Number‘; ‘Contact details – Cell phone number’; and ‘Proof of Residential Address’.

5. Qualifying citizens may apply for the SRD grant through the new WHATSAPP line, 082 0468 553; the USSD or SMS line, *134*7737#; or the email address, [email protected]

There are however some outstanding questions. Following government’s previous announcement of the SRD Grant, Black First Land First (BLF) wrote to the Minister Zulu and offered a proposal to facilitate the speedy distribution of these funds. This includes using the voting stations which are already located within close proximity to the people; and asking applicants to only produce their identity documents which in turn should be stamped against receipt of payments via vouchers.

We pointed out that requiring applicants to use WhatsApp, produce bank account statements, and submit proof of residence are not in line with the reality of the poor.D

The lack of information regarding the bureaucratic process to access the promised SRD grant as well as the fact that the dedicated phone lines were not working, has resulted in the poor becoming extremely frustrated. Consequently on 10 May 2020, BLF wrote to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), Busisiwe Memela, and requested clarity on, amongst other things: when are the phone lines coming on again and what causes their collapse; how many people have applied for the grant; and what about those without a bank account or proof of residence?

BLF received no response from both Minister Zulu and Ms Memela in this respect.

The involvement of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Gates Foundation) in connection with the SRD Grant as announced by Minister Zulu yesterday is very concerning. We demand that the Minister of Social Development and the CEO of SASSA reveal the nature of assistance from the Gates Foundation. Anything to do with data management and the Gates Foundation is a massive red flag.

There are furthermore serious problems with the last two stages indicated in the bureaucratic application form for the SRD Grant. Most people will need help to complete the forms. Seemingly no thinking has gone into how the money gets to the right people, as there are inherent problems with the ewallet method for instance.

While we agitate for the process to be improved and the amount to be increased, BLF calls on the poor to apply for the R350 SRD Grant towards ultimately realizing a universal basic living income for the poor. This is meager amount which can be systematically increased This is the beginning of a people‘s struggle to make claims for the state to serve the poor.

Issued by Black First Land First, National Coordinating Committee of (BLF NCC)

12 May 2020

Contact Details

Black First Land First Mail: [email protected]

Zanele Lwana
(BLF Deputy President)
Cell: +27 79 986 7225

Stop the Global Solidarity Trial: BLF warns of dangerous drugs as treatment options

Posted on April 26, 2020April 26, 2020 by Black First Land First

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned against using chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients.| Photo: AFP

News reports indicating that South Africa (SA) will start participating within the next week in the Public Health Emergency Solidarity Trial (Global Solidarity Trial) that is a project of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to find an effective COVID-19 treatment, gives us great concern. WHO is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Gates Foundation) which in turn is involved in a massive depopulation project in the global South, via their monster vaccines.

On 9 April Black First Land First (BLF) wrote to President Ramaphosa and urged him to stop SA’s participation in the Global Solidarity Trial. Besides acknowledging receipt of our letter nothing further has been done by the president towards ending the use of our people as lab rats in the COVID-19 treatment trials

BLF reiterates its condemnation of SA’s participation in the Global Solidarity Trial which is intended to ultimately justify the Gates sponsored vaccination of the population in the interests of profit.

It’s a matter of public knowledge that the treatment options suggested for the process are, Remdesivir, lopinavir/ritonavir, lopinavir/ritonavir with interferon beta-1a, and chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine.

It’s instructive that on Friday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned against the use of the anti malaria drug chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 patients on the basis that their increased use could cause abnormal heart rhythms and rapid heart rate. The FDA further cautioned that these side effects could increase when chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are mixed with other drugs, such as azithromycin (antibiotic); and when administered to patients with pre-existing kidney and heart disease.
It is clear that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, which the FDA has found to have dangerous side effects, are constituent parts of the treatment options scheduled for use in the Global Solidarity Trial. In fact all the treatment options for use via the Global Solidarity Trial are promoted by the Gates Foundation, which in turn funds WHO, and hence suspicious.

BLF calls for an end to the testing of Gates Foundation vaccines and treatment options for COVID-19 on South Africans.

In view of the FDA’s finding that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have dangerous side effects our call is even more urgent.

BLF demands that the Ramaphosa government immediately stops SA’s participation in the Global Solidarity Trial failing which we will have no option but to mobilse society for direct action to end the evil the process.

Issued by Black First Land First, National Coordinating Committee of (BLF NCC)

26 April 2020

Contact Details

Black First Land First Mail: [email protected]

Zanele Lwana
(BLF Deputy President)
Cell: +27 79 986 7225