Ramaphosa Praised by Tourism Sector for Calling Out Travel Bans, President Addresses Vaccines

• President Cyril Ramaphosa has criticised countries that placed travel bans on South Africa due to the Omicron variant
• The president has announced that unvaccinated people will be unable to enter certain places or participate in particular situations, the details of which are still being decided
• The tourism industry is pleased by Ramaphosa's announcement as they feel it will allow for their sector to continue over the festive season

During his address to the nation last night (28 Nov), President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted two topics; namely the importance of getting vaccinated and criticism of countries who placed travel bans on southern African countries, including South Africa, shortly after the Omicron variant was discovered.

Both of these points caused the South African tourism sector to praise President Ramaphosa for his strong approach and for allowing tourism to carry on its operations over the festive season. The travel industry is hoping to recover the revenue it lost during previous lockdowns.

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Travel ban: WHO says keep borders open, tourism industry takes a knock

The continuation of inter-provincial travel as well as Ramaphosa's announcement that vaccines would be compulsory at certain places and situations will allow the tourism sector to get the economic boost it needs over the festive period, SABC News reports.

Ramaphosa criticises countries who placed travel bans on South Africa

Mere hours after the Omicron variant was announced, several countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany and Israel, placed travel bans on visitors who had recently been in southern African countries, one of which is South Africa.

According to BusinessTech, The South African government is concerned about the socio-economic impact of these travel bans and are holding discussions with a number of the countries that have placed these restrictions on South Africa.

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These discussions are in line with the World Health Organization's belief that the travel bans were rushed and imposed without sufficient scientific evidence. The WHO maintains that adherence to Covid-19 protocols and vaccinations are the best preventative measures.

South Africans react to Ramaphosa tackling vaccine hesitancy

@ChoshaneHappy said:

"Let's see how he is going to implement it."

@KoketsoMotau_ shared:

@Black_Ash01 believes:

"It WILL work, the government won't force you to vaccinate but the system will. As soon as you can't go into a cinema, keep your job or can’t access many other facilities without vaccinating, then you will change your mind."

@RealEvidence3 said:

@lucienxp shared:

"I listened to President @CyrilRamaphosa's briefing tonight on Mzansi's plans to address the OmicronVariant. He inspired confidence. I agree that those countries that have imposed travel bans have taken knee-jerk and discriminatory approaches."

President Cyril Ramaphosa forms a task team for mandatory vaccinations

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Mzansi responds to Ramaphosa's decision to make vaccines compulsory

Earlier, Briefly News reported that the South African government is seriously considering making Covid19 vaccinations compulsory for citizens to gain access to specific activities and locations.

The announcement was made by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday night, 28 November during his address of the nation.

Implementing mandatory vaccinations comes after the emergence of a new Covid19 variant, Omicron, which is said to have more than 30 mutations.

Source: Briefly News