'I'm not a scientist, I'm a prayer warrior' - Mogoeng on his vaccines 'of the devil' stance

Chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng on Friday took a swipe on those who criticised his stance on “evil” vaccines “meant to corrupt the DNA of the people”.

Speaking at the annual judiciary report media briefing, Mogoeng said those who could vouch for the effectiveness of the vaccine and that it did not have side-effects, must be the ones who propagated it.

“I’m not a scientist ... I will pray for God’s intervention.”

Mogoeng emphasised his belief in Christianity and said he would not stop praying to God to act against vaccines that could potentially affect people’s lives negatively.

“I’m crying unto God, whether you call it political or not, and I won’t stop.

“If there is a vaccine with 666, I want God to destroy it. If there is any vaccine meant to corrupt the DNA of people, I’m asking God to interrupt it. Any clean vaccine, they must produce it quickly. People need that for their own health,” said an emotionally charged Mogoeng.

“So if anybody says ‘don’t pray about 666; don’t pray against Satan; don’t pray against corruption on the DNA’, they can criticise until, until. I’m not worried about that.

“My prayer is meant for, and I hope it does touch, every well-meaning Christian to cry unto God and say ‘Lord if there is any vaccine that would negatively affect the lives of people, that vaccine must never see the light of day. You can’t say we must, as Christians, just fold our arms and say ‘whatever people come with’ is fine. No. We can’t.”

Mogoeng  said he accepted that there are people who would agree with his view and take it as a prayer point and those who would reject it.

“That’s how it’s supposed to be. I’m not a scientist. I’m a prayer warrior and I’m encouraging prayer warriors to pray.”

Mogoeng also decried the “notion” that he as a chief justice should separate religion from his job.

“Where did you get this thing of separating my judicial responsibilities from my Christian beliefs from? Where can we look for it in the constitution or anywhere else?

“The last time I checked the constitution, it lists among the fundamental rights — freedom of religion, freedom of opinion and freedom of thought.”

He said not only did the preamble to the constitution talk about God or God to protect and bless the nation, but the national anthem also alluded to a need to pray to God for protection.

“This notion that we must separate the state from religion is misplaced.”

He said while he knew there was corruption in the world, he was not in a position to tell who the culprits were.

“I’m basically saying I believe that we know so much about corruption practitioners in South Africa and across the world, but God knows everything. Anybody who’s looking clean and smart, pointing fingers at others as the corrupt when they themselves are corrupt, must be exposed. I don’t have the power to do that but I’m asking God, in whose unlimited power I have confidence, to expose them and judge them.”

Mogoeng further said he would not keep quiet when he did not agree with a certain issue.

“This is a free country. People must be careful of wanting to take us back to the era of colonialism and apartheid, where freedom of thought and opinion was not allowed. I’m not going to be silenced. I don’t care about the consequences,” he said.

“We’ve been quiet for too long toeing the line. I’m not going to toe any line and it does not matter how many people criticise me.

“When I believe that I need to address this issue, I am going to do it. When I feel the prompting of God to address it, I will.”

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