[LISTEN] Union NEASA heads to court over mandatory Covid-19 jabs in workplace

The new regulations, known as the Code of Good Practice, promote mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations. 

CEO Gerhard Papenfus says the new regulations place “massive, unreasonable administrative and legal obligations on the employers” thus rendering them impractical and confusing. 

“We are perturbed by the contents of the newly introduced code and the accompanying regulations in respect of Hazardous Biological Agents in the workplace.

“The Occupational Health and Safety Act and the HBA regulations were designed to mitigate the risk of exposure to an HBA which originated in the workplace, and to prevent the possible transmission thereof to the community. Covid-19 does not originate in the workplace but is already circulating freely in all communities.” 

According to the code, employees must be notified of the need to be vaccinated once the vaccine becomes available.

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But Papenfus has slammed the code. 

He says forcing vaccination mandates down the throat of South Africans is a "severe error in judgement". 

“Government’s read of the situation on the ground is clearly mistaken. To even attempt to force the Covid/vaccine mandate down the throat of South Africans, is a severe error in judgement, and in fact very naïve. 

"The majority of South Africans are already beyond the Covid-‘scare’, and government’s attempt to bring them back and under government’s control, by means of these regulations, is simply contra-productive. It will simply deepen the trust-deficit between government and the populace.”

The Code of Good Practice is set to come into effect once the state of disaster has been lifted.