The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has come out against the suggestion that a vaccine ID system may be introduced in the country to control access to public buildings and private establishments.
Health Minister Joe Phaahla has said he is quite certain that a vaccine passport system can be legally introduced in the country once enough vaccine coverage has been achieved.
Video | How vaccine passports can also result in greater inequality in Africa and other low-income regions
COSATU says such a move would be tantamount to taking the country back to the era of apartheid pass laws and that is unacceptable.
“This is a sign of desperation. This is a terrible idea. It just reflects the failure of leadership. We signed up to be a democracy. No one said it was going to be easy, it cannot be that every time we are frustrated our government summons the apartheid rule book. We have dealt with the pass system before. |The people of South Africa rejected it and we are not going to allow government to use apartheid tactics to coerce people into accepting vaccines,” says Sizwe Pamla, COSATU Spokesperson.
WHO concerned about proposed vaccine passports
