Pretoria – A resident of a Pretoria East old age home said she had a spring in her step these days – and she swears high and low it is because of her twice weekly dose of ivermectin.

Hendritta Magnus admitted that she had not spread the word around about her hefty bottle of this animal muti in her bathroom cupboard yet to her fellow residents at the retirement village.

“Only one old man here knows, because he uses some no-name brand horse muti which he believes will combat Covid-19. The 88-year-old man simply shakes his head at me about my ivermectin, but it’s just because he’s unhappy that I would not try his remedy,” she said.

Magnus, who is keeping an eye on the forthcoming Gauteng High Court, Pretoria application to make ivermectin more accessible for human use to combat Covid-19, swears on her hefty bottle of meds, on which it is clearly written for animal use only.

Not even the pictures of a sheep, cow and pig on the packaging puts her off

“Look, the first heart transplant was done with a pig heart. So, what do I have to lose,” she asked..

Magnus, who turns 74 today, said she did not consume the medicine orally. She smeared 2ml on the fattest part of her body once a week.

“That’s what I have been told to do and I also read this on social media. So I’m doing it. And boy, do I feel good! I’m doing it as a preventative measure, but if I do contract Covid, I will increase the dosage according to what the experts say.”

Magnus said she first heard about this “wonder drug” on the radio and she later read more about it on social media.

When one of the home’s residents recently tested positive and the rest of them had to be isolated, Magnus decided it was time to try ivermectin, as she had nothing to lose at her age.

She would not divulge who her supplier was, other than to say she was well stocked with her 500ml bottle. Asked how much she paid for it, she also chose to remain tight-lipped.

She has been using the medicine for a month now and said she would continue, regardless of the outcome of the legal battle around the controversial use of the medicine.

“I cannot see why we can’t use it. I have heard of many people who have recovered from Covid by using it and as I am elderly and have co-morbidities, I will keep on using it as a preventative measure.”

Magnus said she had been skeptical about ivermectin before, but now that she heard about its successes, she will keep on using it.

Pretoria East doctor George Coetzee, is meantime soldering on with his urgent application together with two of his patients for permission to be able to use ivermectin as a treatment. Several other parties are expected to join the legal challenge, for which a date of hearing must still be allocated.

The court earlier this month issued an order by agreement with the South African Health Products Regulations Authority (Sahpra) which is said would enable doctors to start ivermectin treatment.

They will, however, at this stage first have to get permission from Sahpra.

Ivermectin is not yet registered for human use within South Africa and the body’s stance is that more tests must be conducted to see whether it is safe.

The applicants will, however, in the forthcoming application ask for a wider order which will enable doctors to prescribe ivermectin for patients.

In the latest development, Coetzee filed another affidavit with the court, in which he said despite the agreement that doctors could at present apply with Sahpra on a case-to-case basis to use ivermectin for their patients, the regulator simply ignored his requests.

He applied on behalf of two of his patients who are also applicants in the forthcoming urgent application.

Coetzee said these two patients had meanwhile recovered as they have been waiting for so long to use this drug, but as they still have dire side effects, they still want permission to use it.

Despite the agreement made an order of court earlier, the dispensing of ivermectin via permission from Sahpra still remains an issue as applications simply fall on deaf ears, he said.