Sakeliga wants Labour Dept to withdraw ‘erroneous directive’ for compulsory vaccination
Business organisation Sakeliga has written to Minister of Labour and Employment Thulas Nxesi, calling for the department to withdraw a directive it believes was issued erroneously.
Sakeliga CEO Piet le Roux says the department’s directive creates the impression that employers should launch compulsory vaccination programs for employees and contractors.
“The Department is apparently attempting to transfer the risk of constitutional violations to employers, instead of dealing with it itself.
“Sakeliga supports voluntary vaccination programs in the workplace. No employee should however be obliged or can be obliged by law to undertake medical interventions against their will and outside the scope of the employment contract, and directives or policies of the Department of Labor to the contrary effect are invalid,” he adds.
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Last week, Nxesi’s department was clear that the question of vaccinations in the workplace remans a grey area.
“It appears that confusion is caused by the minister's policy guidelines on compulsory vaccinations, that it creates a veneer of legitimacy regarding compulsory vaccinations, and that this has already led to a gross violation of bodily integrity in the workplace.
“It warrants emphasis that there is no legislation that provides for compulsory vaccination programs,” says le Roux.
The attorney's letter was sent out on Friday.
The organisation wants the department to reposed to the demand in less than a week.
“Sakeliga's letter to the minister and the department requests, by 12 August, a withdrawal of the recent policy directive insofar as it illegally provides for seemingly legitimate and compulsory vaccination programs, and also requests that a media statement be issued to inform the public of the correct legal position regarding the constitutional right to bodily integrity.”
Listen to le Roux below:
