Covid-19 in SA: R250m spent on making 20 000 ventilators during lockdown By Mayibongwe Maqhina Share Cape Town - The government spent R250 million to have 20 000 ventilators produced as part of the National Ventilator Project (NVP) during the National State of Disaster. Trade and Industry Minister Ibrahim Patel said this when responding to parliamentary questions from EFF MP Floyd Shivambu, who enquired about the total number of ventilators produced in the country this year for Covid-19 patients. Shivambu also wanted to know the names of the manufacturers, the total cost of each ventilator and whether they were tested. In his written response, Patel said the ventilators were produced by the state-owned Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the South African Ventilator Emergency Project (Save-P), a consortium of companies.