PRESS RELEASE

 

13 December 2021

 

MANDATORY VACCINATIONS

 

NEASA PUTS MINISTER ON NOTICE

WILL DEFEND BUSINESS AND INDIVIDUALS IN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

 

Following the Minister of Employment and Labour’s announcement last week that NEDLAC supports the introduction of mandatory vaccinations, and that NEDLAC has resolved to approach the Constitutional Court to seek a declaratory order enforcing mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations in the workplace, NEASA notified the Minister that it has an interest in the matter and that it must be cited as an interested party in the Court’s processes.

 

“We are opposed to the notion that Government can legitimately be empowered to remove a citizen’s fundamental right to choose, and to deprive our people of their basic human rights. If South Africa ever returns to a ‘passbook’ system, to determine which rights and freedoms our people may enjoy, it will cause unspeakable hardship. We stand firm against coerced vaccination or, in fact, any unjustified infringements of any constitutional rights,” says Chief Executive of NEASA, Gerhard Papenfus.

 

The constitutional principles at stake in this matter will have a lasting impact on the future of South Africa. What Government, under pressure from business monopolies, wants to achieve, will severely impact on civil liberties, creating a precedent for other unjustified constitutional rights infringements.

 

“While Government may be entitled to encourage its citizens to vaccinate, it can never be mandatory. We disagree with the Minister’s optimism that a vaccine mandate shall pass constitutional scrutiny,” he concluded.

 

ISSUED BY:

G.C. PAPENFUS

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

NEASA

 

MEDIA CONTACT

JEANNE BOSHOFF

NEASA MEDIA LIAISON

060 885 5612

media@neasa.co.za