MBABANE:Senator Themba Masuku, the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) said politics between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan should not feature in anyway in the fight against Coronavirus.
Speaking to this Swaziland News shortly after eSwatini government received coronavirus protective equipment donated by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma’s Foundation, the DPM said there was nothing wrong with the country receiving the donation despite the diplomatic tension between the PRC and eSwatini over Taiwan.
“The utmost priority is to protect our people. The world is in a fatal crisis and politics has no place at the present moment, we will appreciate any support. Jack Ma is not a country but an individual philanthropist. We thank him and we will use whatever he has contributed to us and to the rest of Africa, we want to save lives” said the DPM.
The DPM said currently, government has put in place a COVID-19 Resource Mobilization Committee that resources donations and or resources from business entities, philanthropists, non-governmental organizations, the UN and governments.
“Some donations come directly to government via third-party organs or governments. The nationality of a philanthropist doesn\'t matter in the fight against COVID-19” said the Deputy Prime Minister.
Masuku said even if the donations might come from planet Pluto, as government, they will accept it because their main objective is to save the lives of the people not to play politics.
Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku