ISSUES AT STAKE: UK red list a double blow for South Africans
The UK’s decision to keep South Africa on its red list is nothing but discrimination, and should be called out as such, argues KHAYA GQIBITHOLE
Last week the United Kingdom removed eight countries from its Covid-19 red list, with Kenya and Egypt the only African countries to be taken off.
South Africa remains sidelined because of the Beta variant – ironically the variant that is ravaging the UK as we speak.
Being on the red list means that anyone who travels to the UK from South Africa must first be quarantined for 10 days in designated hotels – a costly proposition indeed.
The UK doesn’t recognise South African Covid-19 vaccination certificates. For most of us who do not have the means to travel to places like the UK, the matter is moot.
But tourism is big business in South Africa, hence the hospitality sector works around the clock to open the country to tourists.
Tourism is not only about satisfying the whims of the deep-pocketed; it is about the revival of local economies, employment and networking opportunities.
In the best of times tourism contributes immensely to the GDP of the country, hence its benefits are immeasurable.
All this wouldn’t be of any consequence for the downtrodden if the move by the UK was not fraught with hypocrisy.
The rich countries would like us to forget that tourists brought Covid-19 into Africa in the first place.
Today, the same tourists who should help revive the collapsed economies are cynically blocked from doing so.
Subsequent to the first Covid case being brought to South Africa from Italy, tourists from other destinations carried the different variants over our borders with a regularity that stunned our government.
Today, the same countries that spread the pandemic find it easy to talk about the ‘South African variant’.
The UK’s decision is nothing but discrimination and should be called out as such. It is unfortunate that this action has given rise to the ‘pass’ certificate; a term that resonates negatively with South Africans.
Allowing the idea of the Covid-19 certificate to take root in workplaces, entertainment venues and in the hospitality industry is deceitful.
People must be convinced, and not forced, to take the jab. Bulldozing them by insinuating that their rights would be curtailed smacks of coercion.
Those who refuse vaccination have their reasons, whether they are scientifically valid or not. It is the task of those in positions of influence to disseminate correct information to the public.
But if there is one thing positive about Covid-19, it is the opportunities it has opened to struggling economies to overhaul their systems.
*Dr Khaya Gqibithole is a lecturer in the English department at the University of Zululand
