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Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng made clear on Friday that he was not against vaccines, despite his controversial prayer against a Covid-19 vaccine “from the devil” that sparked a heated debate online this week.
And now, # Africa4Palestine has threatened him with another complaint to the judicial control body.
However, an unapologetic Mogoeng, who said he was “misunderstood”, did not back down on Friday, saying the lobbyist could keep up with its complaints.
“Let them go ahead and see what happens,” Mogoeng said at a press conference at his offices in Midrand to unpack the 2019-2020 judiciary annual report.
A video clip of Mogoeng praying passionately during his keynote speech at an event at Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital, filmed on Thursday, has gone viral on Twitter.
READ MORE: WATCH: ‘Don’t Infuse 666 Into People’s Lives’: Mogoeng Spits Fire At Covid-19 Vaccine
“If there is any vaccine that is from the devil, intended to infuse 666 into people’s lives, intended to corrupt their DNA, any vaccine, Lord Almighty God, that is destroyed by fire,” he said in the clip.
Constitutional law expert Professor Pierre de Vos said on Friday that Mogoeng’s comments were problematic on two levels.
“The one is related to freedom of religion,” De Vos said. “If you are going to have religious practices in state institutions and events, it must be fair and it must be voluntary.
“So there is the issue of whether to use an official state function, in its official capacity, to endorse a specific religion and religious point of view.”
De Vos said this could have a chilling effect on non-believers or followers of different religions.
“The second problem is that, as a judge, you must act honorably, consistent with your judicial position, and you must not do anything that discredits the judiciary,” he continued.
“Of course, as a judge, you have the right to have a religion and to have your religious opinions known.
“In this case, however, the Chief Justice, by refusing to answer the question of whether or not he would encourage others to get vaccinated, is giving credence to the conspiracy theories behind the vaccines.”
De Vos said it was a “very controversial” issue.
ALSO READ: ‘I will not stop praying’, says Mogoeng after comments on Covid-19 vaccine
In a statement issued yesterday, #AfricaForPalestine accused Mogoeng of “failing to defend the integrity of the position and the position he holds” and “undermining not only medical science, but also contradicting our government’s position on vaccines.
“We are sure that this extravagant and fanatical speech and denial of medical science during a pandemic is a violation of the Code of Conduct of the Judicial Service Commission. [JSC] that explicitly urges judges to refrain from such controversies, ”he said.
The Chief Justice seemed somewhat taken aback when he confronted the statement at yesterday’s press conference, saying it was the first time he had heard of it.
“Now should I report to the JSC for praying?” I ask.
Mogoeng said he had the right to contradict “anyone”, including the government. But he also said that we lived in a democratic country.
“Any South African who feels aggrieved by what any judge or magistrate says, including me, should file complaints,” he said. “Whether the complaints are well founded or not is a matter that will be decided by the relevant structures.”
ALSO READ: Government warns of vaccine ‘fake news’ after Mogoeng’s comments
In the meantime, he said, he would not be silenced.
“People must be careful to want to take us back to the era of colonialism and apartheid, where freedom of thought and opinion was not allowed,” he said.
Mogoeng explained that he had been praying against a vaccine with dangerous side effects and, in principle, he was not against them.
“Any clean vaccine, they have to produce it so fast. People need it, ”he said.
The social media storm it left in its wake did not appear to have fazed Mogoeng.
“I’m not conformist. Our country, our constitution, does not require us to be like that, ”he said.
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