South African Anti-Vaxxer Parents Could Face Civil Lawsuits, Legal Expert Warns

• A University of Pretoria legal expert warned that parents who refuse to vaccinate their children are not entirely shielded from legal consequences
• Dr Liesl Hager found a theoretical legal foundation exists for civil liability claims if an unvaccinated child causes harm to another person
• Hager also flagged a gap in South African law around school admissions and vaccination requirements that urgently needs clarity

Parents in South Africa who choose not to vaccinate their children may not be breaking any law, but a legal expert says they could still find themselves in court. Dr Liesl Hager from the University of Pretoria's Department of Private Law raised the issue during an interview with CapeTalk, drawing on her research into childhood vaccination and civil liability.

She confirmed that no South African legislation currently forces parents to vaccinate their children or prohibits them from doing so. However, she was clear that this legal gap does not offer complete protection. Her research found a theoretical basis on which a civil lawsuit could succeed if a parent's decision not to vaccinate leads to legally recognised harm to another child or person and all the requirements for civil liability are met.

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What a claimant would need to prove

Hager was quick to caution that winning such a case would be extremely difficult. A claimant would need to show that harm was both foreseeable and preventable, and would have to prove that an unvaccinated child contracted a vaccine-preventable illness, passed it on to someone else, and directly caused measurable injury as a result. Hager also clarified that civil law is not a tool designed to push vaccine uptake.

The picture becomes more complicated when constitutional rights come into play. According to Business Tech, parents may cite religious or cultural freedoms as grounds for refusing vaccination, but Hager pointed out that those rights have limits. A court could find that a child's rights to life, health and dignity outweigh a parent's religious or cultural objections, particularly in life-threatening situations.

The need for clearer vaccination laws

Beyond individual liability, Hager argued that South Africa needs far greater legal clarity on vaccination policy as a whole. She highlighted confusion around school admissions, noting that some provinces recommend vaccines for entry but no binding national guidance exists. She believes lawmakers should specify which vaccines, if any, are compulsory, establish recognised exemptions and define the legal consequences when harm results from non-vaccination.

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3 Other Briefly News stories about vaccines

• Students rushed for vaccines and antibiotics as fear spread quickly across a UK university campus following reports of suspected meningitis cases.
• The first shipment of one million Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccines arrived in South Africa at OR Tambo International Airport.
• The North West province administered 86% of 150,000 vaccine doses to combat the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak.

Source: Briefly News