JOHANNESBURG

The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) in South Africa marched to the Constitutional Court on Thursday to oppose "mandatory" coronavirus vaccinations.

Although vacations are not mandatory, the party believes it will soon and wants citizens to choose whether to be inoculated.

“ACDP is fighting for your freedom to choose what goes into your body. We are saying that freedom should not be taken by anybody,’’ ACDP leader Reverend Kenneth Meshoe said in an address to hundreds of supporters in Johannesburg.

Meshoe told crowds they were giving the government 14 days to give a satisfactory explanation on whether it was heading toward mandatory vaccination.

He said President Cyril Ramaphosa had said in a speech in February that no one will be forced to take the jab against their will but some institutions of higher learning are now planning to shut gates on unvaccinated persons.

On Wednesday, the ACDP’s legal team wrote to the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg to question the school’s proposed mandatory vaccination framework.

The university sent a communique that said stating from Oct. 11 everyone accessing the institution should have been vaccinated or carry a negative PCR test result.

Some companies in South Africa have been demanding employees take the vaccine or face dismissal.

Meshoe demanded that the government should come out and tell South Africans what is in the vaccines before forcing people to take the jabs.

“Everyone has the right not to be subjected to medical or scientific experiments without their consent,” said Meshoe, who is also a Member of Parliament.

Health Minister Joe Phaahla launched a digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate last week that can be used for travel, attend sporting events, recreation events and music festivals.

South Africa has administered more than 29 million vaccine doses, with 10.2 million people fully vaccinated -- about 17.2 % of the nation’s 60 million people.

There are over 2.9 million COVID-19 cases and an excess of 88,466 related deaths.