We have until midnight of the 14th of April 2022 to object! The time to act is now!

We are living in times where we need to engage and make our voice heard to influence change in our nation.

“Surveillance and the control of notifiable medical conditions (NMC): Amendment”

The main issues that need to be considered are:

• • Proposed regulations are unconstitutional
  • Wearing of masks
  • Forced vaccinations and proposed vaccination certificates
  • The restriction of numbers at gatherings inside and outside
  • The proposed fines and jail sentence for non compliance to proposed amendments

Please check out these links for more information and perspective

• • https://sapublicspeaks.co.za
  • https://forsa.org.za/

What you can do to make a difference, call to action?

Email this person: Ms Tsakani Furumele at tsakani.furumele@health.gov.za

Below is a template that you can use to email this person: (You can make changes where you think they are applicable)

Subject: Comments on the Regulations relating to the surveillance and the control of notifiable medical conditions: Amendment

In the Body Section include:

From: [Full Name and Surname] [ID Number] [Phone Number] [email address]

I am writing to register my strong objections to the above-mentioned Draft Regulations for the following reasons:

• • The Omicron variant of COVID-19, combined with the roll out of vaccines, has resulted in 80% to 85% of the South African population developing protection against severe disease and death from this virus. There is no need for Government to extend its use of sweeping executive powers via Regulations issued under the National Health Act on the pretext of “saving lives”.
  • The Minister of Health has the sole discretion to list any disease as a “notifiable medical condition” (“NMC”) in the Draft Regulations’ “Annexure A, Tables 1, 2 or 3”, and is not required to consult with the public and/or Parliament and/or give reasons for listing a disease as a NMC.
  • The Draft Regulations require no Parliamentary oversight, nor does the Minister need to give reasons for any decisions or changes to future regulations that are made. This effectively grants Government the same extraordinary executive powers they have held under the National State of Disaster, apparently for an INDEFINITE period of time.
  • It is a gross and unjustifiable violation of the right to religious freedom guaranteed by sections 15 and 31 of the Constitution for the Draft Regulations to require proof of vaccination if you wish to attend any gathering of over 1,000 people indoors or 2,000 outdoors. It particularly and unfairly discriminates against religious organisations with larger venues and congregations.
  • The Draft Regulations impose the same degree of limitation of human rights, irrespective of the severity of the disease (i.e. no differentiation is made between a category 1, 2, 3 or 4 NMC), and these limits can remain in force indefinitely as long as a disease is listed as a NMC.
  • The Draft Regulations only consider the “risk of transmission” (as opposed to the severity of the disease) for purposes of the limitations on rights. Something as inconsequential as a “common cold” could theoretically be listed as an NMC and drastically and unreasonably limit Constitutional rights.
  • There is no defined criteria, or process, for a disease to be declared an endemic (let alone a pandemic) in the Draft Regulations. Nor are “endemic” or “pandemic” defined.
  • The Draft Regulations impose mandatory medical examination, hospitalisation, quarantine, isolation and treatment, for merely having been exposed to someone with a NMC, or for being simply “suspected” of having contracted a NMC.
  • “Treatment” is undefined and the Draft Regulations could be used to impose mandatory vaccinations or mandatory medical examination, hospitalisation, quarantine in a State facility, for merely having been exposed to someone with a NMC, or for being simply “suspected” of having contracted a NMC. Similarly, “ministerial advice”; “public health importance”; and “public place” are all undefined.
  • Failure to comply with the Draft Regulations will incur excessively harsh criminal sanctions, including an unspecified fine and/or up to 10 years in jail.

I call for the following amendments

• • The listing of a NMC to be subject to public participation and Parliamentary oversight.
  • The Minister be required to give reasons for listing a condition as a NMC.
  • The Regulations to differentiate between a category 1, 2, 3 or 4 NMC, and consider the severity of the disease, before limiting constitutional rights.
  • The National Health Act to be amended to define: both the criteria and the process for the declaration of a pandemic or an endemic, and key concepts such as pandemic; endemic; ministerial advice; public health importance; public place; treatment.
  • Regulation 15 to be amended to exclude mandatory vaccination and only impose mandatory medical examination, hospitalisation, quarantine, isolation and treatment, for a category 1 NMC.
  • Regulation 16 be amended do away with requiring proof of vaccination and only impose any limitation on gatherings for a category 1 or 2 NMC.
  • The offences and penalties to be amended so that failure to comply is not a crime, nor subject to a limitless fine.

Your sincerely,
[SIGNATURE]

Please note:

Submissions must be in before midnight of Thursday Evening, 31 March 2022. (Do not procrastinate)

Comments: We would like to thank For SA and SA Public Speaks for all their efforts in assisting with this issue.

Many Blessings
The Full Gospel Church of God, Ontdekkerspark