in brief

“THEY NEEDED TO GET INVOLVED MUCH EARLIER.”

– Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, criticised the SA government for not acting swiftly on the UK’s decision to keep SA on its red list for travel. The UK said it kept SA on the red list due to concerns over the Beta variant of the coronavirus. Tshivhengwa told that the High Commission should have immediately initiated negotiations with the relevant government departments in the UK and organised a coordinated SA response. Had this been done from the start, SA would not have been blindsided by the UK’s “ill-informed fears”, he said.