Traditional leaders organisation (Contralesa) has strongly condemned the travel ban imposed on South Africa by various Western countries because of the new COVID-19 variant.
Contralesa president, Kgosi Larmeck Mokoena says these countries are undermining Africa as a continent.
Mokoena says as Contralesa, they always encourage people to get vaccinated.
“Contralesa welcome the decision by our government to keep our country under alert Level 1, any further restrictions were going to further damage our limping and fragile economy, it was also going to increase the level of unemployment. While we agree that all South Africans must go and vaccinate, however, we have mixed feelings as to whether mandatory vaccination is the way to go. Contralesa condemns a decision by some countries who impose a travel ban to Southern countries. It is clear that this continent was targeted, We call upon these countries to review and reverse their decisions in the best interest of all of us in this continent.”
Travel bans
In his address, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the government is deeply disappointed that several countries have issued a travel ban on South Africa after the discovery of the Omicron variant.
He says that is a clear and completely unjustified departure from the commitment that many of these
countries made at the meeting of G20 countries in Rome last month.
He adds, “They pledged at that meeting to restart international travel in a safe and orderly manner, consistent with the work of relevant international organisations such as the World Health Organisation, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Maritime Organization and the OECD. The G20 Rome Declaration noted the plight of the tourism sector in developing countries, and made a commitment to support a “rapid, resilient, inclusive and sustainable recovery of the tourism sector.”
Video: President’s address:
