Legal Articles and Guides

Astonishing, barely believable claims of a massive medical conspiracy, with the assistance of the Gauteng Government, were trotted out at a press briefing yesterday by Independent Media executive chair Dr Iqbal Survé as an explanation of why the infamous Tembisa 10 decuplets story run by his newspapers was in fact true, despite the babies never being found.

It may not be as advisable to drive a wedge between children and their parents as the Department of Health appears to believe. Caution should be exercised in providing medical treatment to children and when this is proposed without parental participation or consent, it must be understood that the children require special assistance to make informed decisions. Without proper safeguards there are potentially far-reaching legal consequences for implementing this policy.

SA universities have entered the contested discourse of whether to mandate the Covid-19 vaccine for the safe return of students and staff to campuses or not.

Rhodes University’s council this week approved a mandatory Covid-19 vaccination rule for the resumption of face-to-face university activities next year.

The ‘right to die’ test case has been stalling for several months due to a dispute about the payment of transcription costs, Die Burger reports.

Gauteng Deputy Judge President Roland Sutherland has reportedly revealed that the judiciary is considering allowing only vaccinated people to gain access to courts.

South Africans can now apply for a Covid-19 digital vaccine certificate through a digital vaccination certificate portal, the Department of Health said on Friday, reports the Mail & Guardian.

Private hospital groups Mediclinic and Life Healthcare have introduced Covid-19 vaccination policies for staff and service providers, joining a steadily growing number of JSE-listed companies that have followed the lead of life and health insurer Discovery.

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc around the world, an increasing number of businesses find themselves walking a tightrope between their obligations to, on the one hand, both protect the public and provide a safe and healthy workplace, and on the other hand to respect the individual constitutional rights of employees to make their own choices in matters of bodily and psychological integrity, religion, belief and opinion.

Foetuses which failed to survive past 26 weeks have in the past been effectively considered ‘medical waste’ under the Births and Deaths Registration Act and have, as a result, been incinerated.

Elize O’Brien (42) – a mother of four married for more than 15 years to a man she has never met in her life – has had her ‘marriage’ entered into in February 2006 declared invalid.

Plans to introduce mandatory Covid-19 vaccination among staff and students at the University of Cape Town (UCT) are one step closer after a resounding vote by the university’s senate.

About 15 000 SA Post Office (Sapo) employees and pensioners may have no medical aid from next month after the Medipos medical scheme told them it was cutting them off because it is owed R602m in member contributions by the postal service, according to a Sunday Times report.

UCT’s senate is set to consider a motion today requesting that the university council institute a mandate requiring all staff and students – not exempted on medical or constitutional grounds – to provide acceptable proof of having been vaccinated against Covid-19.

Pharmacy chain Dis-Chem has confirmed an isolated incident of fraudulent vaccination cards being issued at its Krugersdorp President Square vaccination site.