As universities gear up for a full return to campus for students for the first time in nearly two years of hybrid and remote learning, mandatory Covid-19 vaccination requirements are facing some pockets of resistance.
At least eight public universities out of 26 have adopted vaccine mandates for students, employees and visitors returning to campuses while some institutions have chosen a cautious approach by encouraging vaccination rather than imposing mandates.
For campuses where vaccination is mandatory, students will have to show vaccination cards to access facilities or submit to weekly Covid-19 testing for those exempted from the vaccination.
Exemptions will be granted to qualifying students on religious or medical grounds.
The University of Johannesburg (UJ) has given its students a deadline of March 31 to get fully vaccinated.
UJ spokesperson Herman Esterhuizen said the need for optimal access to campuses and facilities had become crucial in part because of the socioeconomic circumstances of the university’s students.
"Additionally, some learning programmes require in-person engagement for research and experiential learning," he said.
"It is important to note, however, that UJ will balance the rights of individuals against the collective rights of the broader university and the surrounding community.
"Once registered, students will receive an automated inquiry to disclose their vaccination status information – whether the first vaccination completed or fully vaccinated.
"The vaccination code received via the department of health’s electronic vaccination data system (EVDS) must be submitted for verification purposes."
Esterhuizen said fully vaccinated students’ access cards will be activated for all campuses and facilities. "Students have until March 31 to comply with the conditional registration to become fully vaccinated or risk having their studies cancelled," he said.
SA Students Congress Organisation (Sasco) president Bamanye Matiwane said they are not happy with vaccine mandates, even though they encourage students to get vaccinated.
"We don't take lightly to students being forced to vaccinate. The Sasco NEC (national executive committee) will be meeting later to discuss vaccine mandates and we're convinced students should vaccinate on their own terms," he said.
Matiwane said no student should be barred from entering facilities and accessing institutions of learning due to the vaccine mandates.
The University of Cape Town (UCT) has told students the mandate will come into effect three days after the policy is implemented on March 1.
All staff and students will have to be vaccinated to enter campus, attend events and also apply for residence.
According to UCT's draft policy, exempted students will have permission to access the campus and buildings, on condition that they provide a weekly Covid-19 negative test and screen negative on daily symptom checks.
The university said students who are not exempted and fail to provide proof of vaccination, will not have the right to enter UCT buildings and campus and are subjected to disciplinary action if they transgress these rules.
At Wits University, the policy came into effect on January 1, and university spokesperson Buhle Zuma said staff and students were invited to upload their vaccine certificates on the university's website.
She said the response had been overwhelming, with almost 10,000 certificates uploaded via an EVDS-linked portal within three days.
"Once their vaccination status is verified, it will be uploaded to their online profiles and will be linked to their access cards, giving them seamless entry to the university's campuses," Zuma said.
She said the university would host a vaccination and testing site at the Wits sports hall at the Braamfontein campus on February 1, which will offer vaccines and boosters.
University of Free State spokesperson Lacea Loader said the institution will implement their policy on February 14.
"The policy will be a contributing factor in encouraging the entire university community to make the responsible decision to vaccinate," Loader said.
However, Student Union of SA spokesperson Asive Dlanjwa said while they were in favour of vaccines, public institutions should not force vaccine mandates on students when the government was not doing the same.
"I've travelled a lot in the last two months representing the organisation and I spent a lot of time on airplanes and there's no social distancing and no-one is asking if you're vaccinated or not.
"So why is it when it comes to accessing a basic right such as education vaccine mandates are introduced?"
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