Formal complaint filed against Chief Justice Mogoeng for ‘vaccine prayer’

Health advocacy organisation, the African Alliance, has filed a 56-page formal complaint with the Judicial Services Commission against Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng after his comments and prayer regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. 

If you haven’t heard by now, it was in December when Mogoeng held a prayer in Tembisa and said the following; 

“If there be any [COVID-19] vaccine that is the work of the devil meant to infuse 666 in the lives of the people, meant to corrupt their DNA… may it be destroyed by fire.”

While his comments received a lot of attention, the African Alliance claims it was nothing but a spread of misinformation. 

MOGOENG UNDERMINING THE PUBLIC’S CONFIDENCE IN A VACCINE 

African Alliance Head Tian Johnson said Mogoeng’s comments implied that vaccines can be dangerous with no factual basis. 

“By doing this, his statements as a highly visible civil servant undermine the public’s confidence in life-saving and scientifically-tested vaccines,” said Johnson who submitted the complaint on behalf of the organization. 

“Let’s be clear: Vaccines are not made by the devil and do not change your DNA. The real danger is that statements such as Mogoeng’s decrease the public trust in vaccines, and that hurts all of us,” he added. 

Mogoeng, on the other hand, said people misunderstood him.

As previously reported by The South African, Mogoeng said “I don’t know if people honestly misunderstood what I said or deliberately misunderstood what I said…I said if there is any vaccine that is being manufactured to advance the satanic agenda, of the mark of the beast 666 if it is manufactured for the purpose of manufacturing the DNA of people, that vaccine must be burned. It must die.”

‘UNFOUNDED CLAIMS’ 

Johnson said Mogoeng should be aware that national regulators such as the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) exist to ensure that products like vaccines are safe, effective, and of high quality. 

“It is highly likely that the Chief Justice himself is alive and healthy today – and free to make such baseless conspiracy theories – as a direct result of him being vaccinated as a child in Koffiekraal Village, in the North West Province,” said Johnson. 

“In making unfounded claims about vaccines, the African Alliance believes Mogoeng acted in a manner incompatible with or unbecoming of a holder of a judicial office and violated the Code of Judicial Conduct in relation to the Judicial Services Commission Act,” he added. 

Based on that, the organisation has called on the Judicial Conduct Committee to urgently review and deal with the complaint to protect the public investments made in a COVID-19 vaccine.

 “What public officials say matters. When what they say puts lives at risk and spreads dangerous lies about vaccines, we will hold them to account. We expect government and political parties to do the same,” added Johnson. 

African Alliance’s complaint against Chief Justice Mogoeng can be read in full here.