Business Unity South Africa (Busa) disputes a December 7 claim by Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi that it has approached the Constitutional Court seeking a mandatory vaccination declaratory order.

Nxesi claimed during the National Economic Development and Labour Council’s yearly summit that government supported Busa going to the Constitutional Court to get a declaratory order.

“The correct position is that Busa indicated we will consult our legal advisers about the possibility of applying to the High Court for a declaratory order to provide additional legal certainty to back up the occupational health and safety (OHS) guidelines already in place,” says Busa CEO Cas Coovadia.

He adds that Busa is in the process of doing this but will only be able to put in an application once its senior counsel is satisfied that it has a case to apply for a declaratory order. “Our advocate and junior counsel are, in the meantime, preparing the necessary affidavits.”

Coovadia also says Busa has taken the view that the current OHS guidelines enable employers to put into place mechanisms to enable vaccination of all staff to meet their responsibility of ensuring a safe workplace for all their staff.

“This is being undertaken within the confines of the guidelines and we are seeing incredibly positive responses from all staff in firms that have applied the OHS guidelines.”

To this extent, he points out that medical aid and financial services provider Discovery has indicated that staff vaccinations have risen from barely one-fifth, to over 94% in the three months since they announced plans to make jabs compulsory from January 1.

“We have seen comparable results in other firms [as well]. This is exactly the type of behaviour we need to encourage, and we urge more employers to follow suit,” enthuses Coovadia.

As such, Busa reiterates its consistent mantra that the most effective weapon against the Covid-19 virus is vaccination and adherence to non-medical health protocols.

“The science is clear that vaccinated people will not get seriously ill if they contract the virus. Vaccinating is also a necessary element to manage the virus and avoid a harder lockdown. The responsible thing to do, from a health and economic point of view, is to vaccinate!” he concludes.