Cape Town – Following a fresh ruling against an unfair dismissal over the contentious Covid-19 vaccine policy earlier this month, a myriad social media users came to the fore saying they’re fighting the same fight while a medical expert said such policies are “crucial”.
Donaldson Mofokeng approached the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) after he was declared “permanently incapacitated because he refused to be inoculated against Covid-19.
On December 12, the CCMA ruled that MultiChoice Support Services (Pty) Ltd had not provided “any evidence” that the Covid-19 vaccine would protect Mofokeng or his colleagues.
It further found that the dismissal of Mofokeng was thus “substantively unfair”.
MultiChoice was ordered to compensate Mofokeng an amount of just over R100 0000.
It’s imperative to note that arbitration awards do not create precedent, said Khwezi Mqoboli, a candidate legal practitioner in Pretoria, and Mziwamadoda Nondima, a legal practitioner at Nondima Attorneys in East London.
The Goldrush Group was also earlier this year hauled before the CCMA after it dismissed an employee on the grounds of incapacity due to her refusal to accept the mandatory vaccine. The employee lost her case.
She submitted that her refusal to vaccinate is based on her constitutional right to bodily and psychological integrity.
In reaching its decision, the CCMA took into consideration the steps that the employer put in place in developing the mandatory vaccination policy, which included the identifying of the risk and health hazards that the employees were exposed to.
The commissioner ruled in favour of the employer – that the dismissal was substantively fair.
Baroque Medical, nestled in Cape Town, also had a disgruntled employee who took it to the CCMA, citing “unfair dismissal”.
The CCMA held that the dismissal due to operational requirements was substantively and procedurally fair.
But two months after the latter ruling was issued, the CCMA ruled in the favour of another Baroque Medical employee who said his dismissal was not fair.
🚨 Another CCMA ruling against an unfair dismissal over a Covid-19 vaccine policy. Multichoice was ordered to compensate the complainant. @WeekendArgus @IOL pic.twitter.com/4YPauLJoON
— Brandon (@brandonn_journo) December 14, 2022
A senior lecturer from the Department of Global Health at Stellenbosch University, Dr Jo Barnes, told Weekend Argus that mandatory inoculation polices remained crucial.
“I do not think that inoculation policies are redundant ... there’s been a huge uptick in numbers of cases in China, that is now the Northern hemisphere’s winter, we don’t know what Covid-19 will do for us,” said Barnes.
“Our numbers are low at the moment – I think companies need to adapt (their) policies to the new reality ... for people to refuse extra protection seems to be counter-productive as far as I am concerned ... anything that can help you fight an illness or make it less severe is certainly in your favour,” said Barnes, adding that the government was failing its people if it did not “inspire” and “encourage” them to get vaccinated.
By July this year, Old Mutual and Standard Bank axed 89 employees who were not vaccinated against Covid-19.
Shortly after this, Standard Bank announced that it would withdraw the policy after the finance union South African Society of Bank Officials (Sasbo) said it would challenge the bank’s decision to fire its members.
Earlier this week, the Department of Health said plans were under way to provide booster vaccination shots in the coming year, especially for the elderly and those who are immuno compromised and at the highest risk of severe Covid-19 complications.
At present, adults between the ages of 18 and 49 years are eligible to receive three doses, while those who are 50 years and older are eligible to receive four doses.
“Consideration is being given to offering an additional booster dose to both age groups. This would mean that adults aged 18 – 49 years would be eligible to receive a total of four doses, while those 50 years and older would be eligible to receive five doses,” said the department’s Foster Mohale.
“Despite the current low hospitalisation and mortality rates, the pandemic continues to threaten the lives of vulnerable people.”
At last count the department stated that there were a little more than 9 000 active Covid-19 cases across the country.
Weekend Argus.