COVID VACCINATION & YOUR RIGHTS
Schools, universities, job hunting and the workplace The Covid-19 pandemic isn’t going anywhere, and more decisive action is needed to keep South Africa – and the world – safe. One way to do this is for government and private companies to implement mandatory vaccination policies. But how will these policies impact on your Constitutional right to freedom and security? And how do your individual rights measure up when compared with the best interest of the public at large? Can schools and universities make vaccines mandatory? Madelaine Page reports.
How Covid-19 vaccination policies
WILL AFFECT YOU
T
he South African Constitution makes provision for only one absolute right and that is the right to life. All other rights fall under Section 36 of the Constitution, which means that they may be limited by a generally applied law that is ‘reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society based on dignity, freedom and equality’.
When we talk about our human rights, the burning question right now is whether government, institutions or private companies can force people to get Covid-19 vaccines. The easy answer is no, but, according to Jahni de Villiers, director of Labour Amplified, it’s more complicated than that. While nobody can force another person to be vaccinated, government and private companies can implement mandatory vaccine policies. Government Gazette No. 44 700, published on 11 June 2021, gives employers the power to decide whether or not they want to make vaccinations mandatory in their workplace. “This must be done in accordance with the employer’s own risk assessment. It means the employer must identify those employees that must be vaccinated, taking into account the risk of transmission through
their work or their risk for severe Covid-19 disease or death due to their age or comorbidities,” says Jahni. The Government Gazette is free online at www.gpwonline.co.za Jahni makes it clear that mandatory vaccination to perform certain tasks is not the same as forcing someone to be vaccinated, because employees still have a choice. And employers, when doing the risk assessment, must first try to find other ways to accommodate people who don’t want the vaccine, like moving an employee to a different workstation or a different role with lower risks for contracting the virus. If, however, this can’t
