By Grace Kuria
The Government of South Africa has announced it will intensify efforts to get off the United Kingdom’s red travel list.
In a statement, the country’s department of international relations and cooperation (DIRCO) said it is is puzzled at the U.K’s decision to keep South Africa on the red list of countries facing stringent restrictions and high costs when entering the UK.
“Thousands of families and business people in South Africa and the U.K are shocked at this continued exclusion, especially given SA’s progress in combating the COVID-19 pandemic as evidenced by the rapid decline in infection rates due to the robust vaccination programme and excellent science,” DIRCO said in a statement.
Commenting on the decision to keep the country on the red list, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor said, “we firmly believe there is no reasonable basis for keeping South Africa on the red list and I am very disappointed.”
Pandor added that DIRCO is optimistic that the U.K Government will finally realize that their decision is not harming just the tourism industry but other businesses from both countries.
The U.K on September 17 removed eight countries from its Red list, including Kenya and Egypt.