Parliament has lost its power to a non elected Ministerial Advisory Committee that has taken over the role of advising the Executive on how to run the country during this state of the  pandemic. The President has announced that he will introduce draft legislation to enforce mandatory vaccination. This is contrary to his promise that "nobody will be forced to vaccinate". Please sign this petition to appeal to Parliament to resume its powers as elected representatives and to reject mandatory vaccination with the contempt that it deserves and to defend our Constitution and Bill of Rights particularly the  Freedom of Choice which is the foundation of democracy.

1.    The Preamble of the Constitution states clearly that the Constitution is the supreme law adopted so as to: “Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based onthe Will of the People and every citizen is equally protected by law”. This principle clearly confirms that the Will of the People is one of the corner stones of our democracy. Any law or policy diredtives/guidelines that undermine this principle would be  contrary to the spirit of our constitution and it is our contention that the proposed mandatory vaccination is disrespectful of our constitution.

2.    The Founding Provisions of the Constitution pronounce the purpose of the Constitution i.e., “The Republic of South Africa is one, sovereign, democratic state founded on the following values: (a) Human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms". Mandatory vaccination undermines this principle

3.    The Bill of Rights can be considered the third most important part of our constitution in terms of interpretation, and it clearly amplifies the significance of Human Dignity in Section 10. “Everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected”. This right is listed as one the non-derogable rights and no court or legislation can limit this right. The Bill of Rights further protects the Freedom and Security of the Person in Section 12. (1) “Everyone has the right to freedom and security of the person, which includes the right— (a) not to be deprived of freedom arbitrarily or without just cause; The Mandatory Vaccine is arbitrary because it deprives the individual the freedom to choose. Most importantly, Section 12 (2b,c) states that “Everyone has the right to bodily and psychological integrity, which includes the right— (b) to security in and control over their body; and (c) not to be subjected to medical or scientific experiments without their informed consent. This section is also non-derogable. The current vaccines being administered in our country have been approved under emergency use regulations (EUR) and therefore they are experimental or trials/tests. Enforcing Mandatory Vaccines for such is therefore a violation of our rights as citizens and defeats the spirit of the constitution and also a violation of the Nuremburg Code of 1947.

This Petition therefore requests you, as duly elected representatives of the people of South Africa, to:

1. Protect and defend the Constitution,

2. Reject with contempt any legislation that comes before your that seeks to introduce mandatory vaccinations.

3. Reclaim your rights and responsibilities from the Covid-19 Ministerial Advisory Committee  that has no constitutional standing to impose laws and regulations outside of your mandate to govern this country and provide oversight on the functions of the Executive. 

4. Consider the scientific evidence available that confirms that even vaccinated persons can be infected and can also infect others and that mandatory vaccines do not therefore provide a solution to work place safety. In fact the latest evidence shows that vaccinated persons present a higher risk at the work place than persons that are vaccine free. This is because vaccinated persons have mild or no symptoms at all and therefore may proceed to the work place and infect other people unknowingly for many days whilst persons that are vaccine free would show immediate symptoms and therefore can be stopped immediately before doing much harm at the work place. The new variant Omnicron was first discovered amongst vaccinated persons in Botswana and seems to be particularly rife amongst vaccinated persons according to statistics from some European countries. We believe that better solutions can be found to ensure equal treatment at the work place as envisaged in our constitution and our labour laws. Mandatory vaccines will create divisions reminiscent of apartheid and as a democratically elected Parliament you would have failed South Africa if you passed such a legislation.