Johannesburg - The Christian Revival Church has called on Christians to reject government’s mooted plans of amending the National Health Act to allow some of the Covid-19 regulations to form part of standard South African law.
About a week ago, during a televised address to the nation, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the government intended to end the State of Disaster.
The country has been under the State of Disaster since March 2020 when the nation was put on alert as a measure of containing the spread of the coronavirus.
Now, government intends to use some of the health regulations which were instrumental in fighting the pandemic to form part of law.
The move has been criticised and rejected in many quarters, including opposition parties, who argue there is no need for amendments to the Health Act.
Ramaphosa has however warned that although the State of Disaster would end in earnest, the virus remained a threat and still needed to be managed.
“It just means that we are changing the way we manage the pandemic, and we will be relying on health regulations rather than disaster management regulations.
“It means that we are learning to live with the virus in our presence.
“It means that we are returning, as far as possible, to the lives that we lived before the pandemic,” said Ramaphosa.
But some, like the Christian Revival Church, have rejected the amendments to the Health Act and have called on their members and other Christians to reject government's plans.
“As Christians, we do not support the proposed amendments to the National Health Act. We are concerned that the Draft Regulations violate our constitutional rights as religious persons / a religious organisation to religious freedom, which includes the right to manifest religious belief without fear of hindrance or reprisal, (section 15) and as a religious community to practise our religion together (section 31),” the church said on its website.
The church is calling on its members to reject continued mask wearing, reject the proposed regulations, reject having to produce vaccine certificates to attend church, reject restrictions for church attendance to oppose any fines and jail sentences proposed under the new regulations.
The draft regulations, which are not specifically targeted at Covid-19, were published by Health Minister Joe Phaahla on March 15.
The Draft Bill states that: “Any person with a confirmed or suspected case of a notifiable medical condition may not refuse to submit to mandatory prophylaxis, treatment, isolation or quarantine in order to prevent transmission”.
About a week ago, during an address to the nation, Ramaphosa said the government would be ending the State of Disaster and would be entering a new phase, in which some of the Covid-19 regulations would form part of the National Health Act.
He said at the time: “We are now ready to enter a new phase in our management of the pandemic.
“After four waves of infection, fewer people are becoming severely ill and requiring hospitalisation. There are far fewer deaths than before.
“Our scientists tell us that this is mainly because some 60% to 80% of the population has some form of immunity to the virus, either from previous infection or vaccination.
“From the experience of the past two years, our health services have learnt to manage the disease more effectively,” he said.
The move to amend the National Health Act has been criticised by some in opposition, although the government has called for public comments before making the amendments in law.
“Due to the changing nature of the pandemic, and due to the progress that has been made through our collective efforts, we intend to lift the National State of Disaster as soon as public comment on the health regulations published by the Minister of health has been completed.
“These regulations, when finalised, will replace the State of Disaster regulations as the legal instrument that we use to manage the pandemic.
“All South Africans are invited to make comments on the draft regulations before the 16th of April.
“What should be clear is that the end of the National State of Disaster does not mean the end of the pandemic,” said Ramaphosa.
IOL