Johannesburg – The Hola Bon Renaissance Foundation (HBR), a non-government organisation (NGO), has launched a campaign to stop all forceful Covid-19 vaccinations in South Africa.
The issue of mandatory vaccinations has been a hot topic locally since the South African government’s Covid-19 vaccine roll-out programme began earlier this year.
Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla also recently said the government has no intention to make vaccinations mandatory for all South Africans.
Phaahla, who was replying to a written question from IFP MP Magdalena Hlengwa, said it was not their intention as the government to make vaccinations mandatory.
“No, the government does not intend to make Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory by law. The government approach is to invest in persuading people in seeing the life-saving value of vaccination.
’’As stated above, the government wants to emphasise on rather convincing people of the value of vaccination,” said Phaahla.
Some companies have, however, already said it will be mandatory for all their employees to get the jabs.
HBR, an NGO based in South Africa, on October 3 launched a campaign to stop all Covid-19 vaccinations from being forcefully implemented or being mandatory.
“The NGO calls for Freedom of Choice which is guaranteed by the Constitution of South Africa and it is a basic human right.
’’Every human has the right to choose whether they want to be vaccinated or not, noting that Covid-19 vaccination is still on trial in South Africa,” said HBR chairperson Bontshitswe Preddy Mothopeng.
Mothopeng added that hence, it could not be mandatory for any human being to be part of any medical experiment.
“The state and anyone who is forcing the Covid-19 vaccination is committing democide,” the chairperson said. Democide is the murder of any person or people by their government.
The organisation said the HBR has also launched a a USSD number *120*831# to be dialled, where any human being living in South Africa can dial should they be forced to vaccinate.
“The foundation will have a record of any business and state department that are violating human rights, with the intention of litigating all those that are violating human rights,” Mothopeng said.
He added that the foundation was also seeking funding or donations to be able to cover for legal fees to stop the forceful Covid-19 vaccination.
Meanwhile, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) recently said that it was constitutionally permissible to require people, from age groups that are eligible for vaccination to vaccinate, provided that this is done in accordance with the processes stipulated in the Constitution.
“Given that the pandemic is an existential crisis that affects all human beings and implicates both rights and responsibilities, it is highly likely that a general law mandating vaccination will pass constitutional muster,” the SAHRC said.
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The Star