Another Bitter Pill to Swallow for South African Anti-Vax Workers

The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration has ruled for a second time that an employee can be suspended for refusing to be vaccinated against Covid-19, Tania Broughton of GroundUp reports.

Gideon Kok, an employee of Ndaka Security Services, had refused to be vaccinated on religious grounds. Kok's objections were "baseless and without any support, theological or scientific" said Commissioner Petrus Venter. Venter said the evidence presented showed that Kok had to be vaccinated in order for the employer to comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act. In his ruling, Commissioner Venter said Kok had been instructed to only return to work after he had been vaccinated, or when he submitted his weekly test result.

This follows a similar case where Theresa Mulderij, a business and training officer at Goldrush Group, faced dismissal as she "refused to participate in the creation of a safe working environment" by declining vaccination against Covid-19.