Skip to main content

Pandemic denialists PANDA abandoned by media followers

 Pandemic Data and Analytics, better known as Panda, burst onto the scene a year ago with their infamous report the economic consequences of the lockdown would allegedly kill more people than Covid-19.

 The media gave them significant coverage but no one questioned their and front man Nick Hudson’s faulty, mischievous assumptions and analysis.

 Later when they issued a “study” that questioned epidemiological models predicting Covid deaths could exceed 50,000, and they said deaths would not exceed 20,000, the media still reported them, although with less interest.

 But as the pandemic wreaked its heavy toll, Panda fell out of favour and was eventually sidelined.

 Recently Daily Maverick’s Nafeez Ahmed and Rebecca Davis took down Panda – “Kung Flu Panda: dodgy analytics or pandemic propaganda”. But like most of the media, they have a short memory. At the time the media never critically examined Panda for what they obviously are: pandemic denialists. They called them “experts”. 

 Now with hindsight they’re distancing themselves from their careless oversight, downgrading Panda to a far right, conspiracy, unscientific “lobby group” with links to similar organisations worldwide.

 I immediately saw Panda for what they were, though, and wrote criticising them. It’s strange it’s taken particularly media so long to find out, and only following real time evidence of Covid’s wreckage, which always was counter pandemic denialism.

 While Panda’s members are scientific quacks and conspiracy theorists, it’s obvious from the outset their agenda is that of the rightwing and loony far-right, among them big business, like Allan Gray whose CEO Andrew Lapping wrote an op-ed repeating the unsubstantiated theory of the alleged impact of the lockdown, also fulsomely covered by the media; Sanlam subsidiary Santam which refused to pay policy holders for loss of business (Panda co-spokesman Peter Casteldon is a Santam executive) and others that put profits before lives.

 The irony is these pandemic denialists are among the first to hide in their bunkers and jump the line for vaccines like Johann Rupert, a major investor in Sanlam, did.

 As in other matters, South Africa’s media are dire and culpable for not having the competence and interest to interrogate or credulously accept as fact what’s presented. And as I noted before, DM, the self-styled conscience of the nation, is first among them.

 It’s always timely exposing false prophets, but it’s hypocritical when its present critics were among Panda’s original subscribers.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Clean audits: much ado about nothing

 Auditor-general of South Africa Tsakani Maluleke recently released the results of 2023/24 municipal audits. Only 34 municipalities received a clean audit. Clean audit is an SA public audit definition of: financially unqualified and full compliance with legislation (mainly but not exclusively PFMA, MFMA and Treasury regulations) and auditee's ie client's own performance objectives. Incidentally, on the objectives, the AG takes the client's word for their completion or not; it's a tick-box exercise for AG as most of auditing is.  When Helen "Godzille" Zille was Western Cape premier she railed against audits as being an obstacle to efficient administration (really). She used the example of missing library books in the AG's audit of the WC Library department's financials. This was ignorant nonsense. Government departments, politicians and media get in a froth about "clean audits". When government audit results are released, media and politicians...
Post a Comment
Read more

Western Cape Health has no jurisdiction over its doctors, senior official claims

On Wednesday June 1, Western Cape Health Department's (WCHD) officer Dr Saadiq Kariem was interviewed on CapeTalk about access to chronic medications for WCHD patients. He spoke of two options: collection at a department facility or delivery to their homes. He made it sound so easy. He didn't mention, though, that at many community health clinics aka day hospitals there's a wait, often hours, to simply collect medicines even when clinics already have patients' current scripts on file. I myself tried that - the first time and last time I'd been to a clinic for collection - but left after two hours without even being attended to. I buy my meds which fortunately are not the expensive kind. People cannot take off hours every month merely to collect meds but the poor have no alternative. I gather problems may be clinic specific. On a related matter, during an after hours phone call that weekend, Groote Schuur Hospital's chief operating officer Dr Belinda Jacobs told ...
1 comment
Read more

Did Beth Engelbrecht jump or was she pushed from a burning platform?

Beth Engelbrecht was head of Western Cape Health Department (WCHD) from 2014 to 2020. Her predecessor Craig Househam ran the department from the late 90s. She was succeeded by Keith Cloete from 1 April 2020.  Engelbrecht's departure was a quiet affair. There was a press briefing January 2020 where Cloete was introduced as her successor (at the Western Cape Government's request, she remained to assist him with the COVID pandemic) but no articles in mainstream media about her tenure. The briefing concentrated on Cloete's and department's priorities.  The absence of press coverage was odd because she held a very important post. Compare that to the fulsome articles when Groote Schuur Hospital CEO Bhavna Patel retired in 2024 and about Eastern Cape health head Rolene Wagner's suspension and reinstatement. WCHD's Jonga Magazine (issue 24, 17 March 2020) ran a farewell message from Engelbrecht in which she wished Cloete well and thanked the department, MEC Nomafrench M...
Post a Comment
Read more