President Cyril Ramaphosa shocked the religious sector on March 22 by announcing a vaccine mandate without having taken our objections into account. These objections were communicated to the presidency by religious and church leaders in previous consultative meetings. The announcement infringes on the rights of freedom to worship and shows how our government undermines and disrespects our sector.
Whether the president used the word “mandate” or not is neither here nor there. The fact is he has put conditions on whether people are to be allowed to enter places of worship, which is highly problematic for me and other leaders. He said: “The approach going forward is that both indoor and outdoor venues can now take up to 50% of their capacity provided that the criteria for entrance are proof of vaccination or a Covid test not older than 72 hours.” That was announcing a vaccine mandate through the back door.
I’m not against the vaccines — I’m fully behind all the efforts by our government to vaccinate as many people as we can. I have seen how the vaccines protected people from severe illness and death from Covid. World Health Organisation data clearly shows that vaccines are the best form of protection against Covid. So the debate about the effectiveness and safety of vaccines has become irrelevant and serves no purpose.
It is the announcement of the vaccine mandate by our government that has opened fierce objection and rejection, particularly by the religious sector. The faith community is up in arms.
The International Federation of Christian Churches (IFCC) has released a statement saying: “... The South African Council of Churches (SACC) ... have made it very clear that they are not going to implement this condition because it is simply impractical and impossible to even try to implement let alone the fact that it takes away the basic right of freedom of religion.”
I’m not against the vaccines — I’m fully behind all the efforts by our government to vaccinate as many people as we can
The IFCC, of which I’m part of the leadership, fiercely rejects and opposes the vaccine mandate. As the IFCC we welcome the 50% capacity allowance. However, we are outraged, dismayed and utterly disappointed by this announcement from our president.
When you look around the world, the issue of a vaccine mandate has divided families, communities, societies and countries. In the US for example, the vaccine mandate has resulted in people hating each other and it has divided their country right down the middle. So clearly this is a very sensitive issue and it cannot be approached willy nilly, it must be approached with the sensitivity it deserves.
It boggles the mind as to why our government, with all the information at its fingertips, would act in this manner knowing how sensitive this issue is. It is extremely shocking that our government would go ahead and announce the vaccine mandate without meaningfully consulting with its stakeholders. Why is our government willing to put itself on a confrontational path with the religious sector? Why our government is willing to take such a risk with one of its main stakeholders is beyond me.
Spare a thought for the religious and church leaders because for the past 24 months we have been supporting and partnering our government to fight Covid. When the vaccines finally arrived in our country we were at the forefront of encouraging people to vaccinate to protect themselves and their loved ones. As a sector, we fully complied with the measures that had been put in place without complaining because we understood the big picture.
When the July unrest hit we were called upon by our president to go on the ground to speak to our communities to stop the violence and looting and to pray for peace in our land. We went on the ground without hesitation or complaints to speak to our communities, and within a few days the violence stopped because we understand our role in society.
The treatment by our government leaves very much to be desired. Most church and religious leaders feel targeted by our government; the latest announcement on the vaccines mandate a case in point. During the past 24 months some of our pastors, particularly in the rural and township areas, appealed for help from our president and his government, and nobody came to their rescue. Other sectors were assisted and continue to be assisted so that they can operate.
It is clear that our government has no respect for the religious sector because if it did, it would never have announced the vaccine mandate in the way it was done, knowing very well how sensitive this matter is because it is about people’s faith and belief. No-one handles a weighty matter like people's religion in the way our government did.
I agree with the sentiments of other religious and church leaders that we will never turn people away nor will we discriminate against or divide people based on whether they are vaccinated. Our faith and worship of our God will never be surrendered to a vaccination mandate. When it comes to defending our faith and every person's right to worship we will stand our ground.
We will continue to support our government in its efforts to get as many people as possible to be vaccinated. Let me be clear: we will not subject ourselves and the people we lead to a vaccine mandate and deny them the right to worship, we will not comprise nor surrender. We are still open and willing to talk to the government.
• McCauley is the president of Rhema Family Churches and chair of the National Religious Leaders Council
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