African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) leader, Kenneth Meshoe, says he will not break family tradition by taking a COVID-19 vaccine. He says he will therefore not register to be vaccinated against the infectious disease.
This comes as National Assembly Deputy Speaker Lechesa Tsenoli urged Members of Parliament over the age of 60 to register to be vaccinated when the country’s second phase of its rollout campaign commences on Monday. Meshoe is one the MPs who are over the age of 60 and qualifies for the shot.
Freedom Front Plus leader, Pieter Groenewald, will also not be taking the vaccine:
The ACDP leader says a similar question on vaccination was asked to him around March and April last year and his answer remains the same.
“I will not receive any vaccination. It has been our family tradition that once we are adults, – we do not accept vaccinations. My parents spoke against it. My father never took one to my knowledge. He is herd (immune) actually. My mother did not do it. And as we grew up as children also, we did not take vaccinations except when we were very young. But as adults now we will not do it because I am not prepared to break our family tradition,” he adds.
The pastor contracted the virus in 2020 and has since recovered.
IFP’s Mkhuleko Hlengwa reacts to Meshoe’s COVID-19 positive test:
Meshoe’s assertions come amid calls for the elderly to register for the vaccine.
Anglican Archbishop of Southern Africa, Thabo Makgoba, is the latest to sound the trumpet.
Makgoba says he has lost his eldest sister Martha Makgoba-Nkoana who died of COVID-19 complications in Gauteng on Thursday night. He says Makgoba-Nkoana, who recently celebrated her 80th birthday, contracted the virus after attending a family traditional wedding ceremony in Soweto.
Makgoba says his sister was a retired nurse who taught nursing at the Baragwanath Academic Hospital and Wits University for many years.
The Anglican Archbishop says Makgoba-Nkoana is survived by a brother, two sisters, two daughters and grandchildren.
“ So, dear friends, even in the midst of this pain and loss, I want to urge those who are over 60 to register to be vaccinated. And to be vaccinated to avert the possible scourge of what Gauteng is seeing at the moment and increase number of coronavirus. My sister lived in Chiawelo in Soweto and went to a wedding feast where other family members also contracted the virus. Let us continue to sanitise,- keep social distancing, wear masks and where possible avoid super-spreading places,” says Makgoba.
Earlier on Friday, Gauteng Premier David Makhura said the province is in the grip of a COVID-19 third wave.
Makhura urged residents to adhere to safety protocols:
