Multiple news sources are now reporting that South Africa could be removed from the “Red List” of COVID-19 countries as soon as Thursday this week.
This is welcome news, and comes just in time to offer a hope of rescue for this year’s holiday season, which could see thousands of UK travellers returning to South Africa, and thousands more South Africans based in the UK able to visit home, some for the first time in two years.
Sharon Constançon, Chairman of the South African Chamber of Commerce UK, gave an interview on eNCA News this morning, welcoming the lifting of the “travel ban”. Watch the interview below:
During our recent “Innovation and Resilience Awards”, keynote speaker Lord Paul Boateng called on the UK Government to take this step, citing support from both Houses of Parliament for the move.
“There’s bipartisan support for this initiative ..to ensure the trade and transport links between South Africa and the UK are reinforced by the proper designation of South Africa, not as a Red List country, but as a Green List country, so that once again we can have South Africans and Brits coming together.”
He also called on the UK government to do more to make vaccines available in the global south, saying “As we tackle the issue of vaccine inequality and access, we also have to bear in mind how important it is to address this issue, because without it we are not going to defeat the pandemic because we are all in this together. Ubuntu is exactly what this is all about. We are what we are because of each other.”
“None of us will be safe until everyone is safe.”
See his remarks (from 19:30) in the video below:
Article updated 10:00am, 05/10 to include Sharon’s interview on eNCA News.