The emergence of the Omicron Covid-19 variant and SA’s slow progress in administering vaccines to the population have brought the controversial question of mandatory vaccines to the fore. An increasing number of private-sector companies are making vaccines compulsory for all staff, and there has been a big push from the scientific community for vaccines to be made compulsory for people attending public events.
Cosatu has done an about-turn and now says it supports a vaccine mandate, though the labour federation has yet to bring its member unions, notably the National Union of Mineworkers and the National Education and Health Workers Union, around to its view. Unions that organise in the private sector seem to be more supportive of a mandate.
Late last month President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the formation of a task team to look into the feasibility of a vaccine mandate in SA, saying the team would report to Deputy President David Mabuza. Meanwhile the numbers of those infected are growing by the day, and the likelihood of new and potentially more dangerous variants is increasing as the virus circulates unhindered in unvaccinated communities.
Little about the mandatory vaccines task team has been made public, and it seems that it will take some time before it produces a report. But we do not have the luxury of time, especially with a fourth wave showing signs of devastating the vulnerable.
Perhaps the government is awaiting its line of march from the outcome of an approach being taken by business lobby Business Unity SA, which has asked the courts for direction on whether it is within its rights to insist on mandatory vaccines in the workplace. More likely it’s just the usual foot-dragging we’ve become accustomed to from the Ramaphosa administration.
SA’s constitution upholds the rights of the individual, but no right is absolute, and it has to be offset against the rights of the community at large. Given the politicisation of the whole issue of vaccines, not just here but around the world, it seems this matter could go all the way to the Constitutional Court. It would be a pity, and it’s likely to cost many more lives if the issue becomes snarled up in the courts.
The government must provide a clear line on the matter, and soon.
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