On Tuesday, pupils across the country were allowed to go back to school on a full-time basis after two years of unnecessary delays. This serves as a relief to those who have always maintained that the action of stopping normal schooling was uncalled for and time wasting.

However, institutions of higher learning, such as the University of Johannesburg, have declared all their campuses and facilities mandatory vaccination sites. UJ states that students are to be fully vaccinated and to have uploaded their proof of vaccination by March 31.

Their registration status will be rendered unconditional, and their access cards will be activated for all campuses and facilities. Students who do not plan to be vaccinated may, under exceptional circumstances, submit an application for exemption. Only medical or religious grounds will be considered and if the application is not approved, the student’s access card will not be activated for access to any campus or facility. The student’s conditional registration will be cancelled if not vaccinated by March 31.

I wonder if the UJ ever had the privilege to peruse the contract between vaccine manufacturer Pfizer and the SA government, particularly clause 5.5, which states that “there may be adverse effects of the vaccine that are not currently known...”

UJ does not meet minimum requirements to invoke sections 36 of the SA constitution, which permits powers to limit the rights of individuals over those of the majority.

So is UJ going to deny certain students a right to education because they refuse to give up their bodies for an experiment?

Do they explain to students that the government has signed an agreement that says if anything goes wrong with your health after taking the vaccine, or you die,  the pharmaceutical company that manufactured the vaccine cannot be sued?

Tebogo Brown, Witpoortjie, Roodepoort