Landmark legal challenge against mandatory Covid vaccines in South Africa

TRADE union Solidarity has launched a legal challenge against the University of the Free State (UFS) over its planned mandatory Covid-19 vaccine policy for staff and students.

The union said it also plans to file several other court cases regarding mandatory vaccinations in the workplace.

According to Solidarity, its first case against the Small Enterprise Employers of South Africa (SEESA) will be heard in the Labour Court in Johannesburg on 27 January.

These legal challenges are expected to act as some of the first ‘test cases’ and provide clarity around vaccine mandates in the public and business sectors.

“At the moment, the South African labour market is faced with huge uncertainty regarding whether employers may compel their employees, or even universities their students, to get vaccinated.

“As a result, we see dozens of employers exploiting this uncertainty and using it as an excuse to lay off employees without following the