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DO AWAY WITH VACCINE CERTIFICATES - BE

08/11/2022 09:00:00 Sibusiso Zwane

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MANZINI - Business Eswatini (BE) wants government to do away with the need for travellers to produce COVID-19 vaccination certificates at border gates, ahead of the festive season.

This was said by BE Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nathi Dlamini in a statement which was meant to update their members on certain issues. In the statement, the CEO said the organisation had requested the Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, to remove the requirement to produce a vaccination certificate when entering the Kingdom of Eswatini. He said the holiday and shopping season was upon us and the business community was cautiously optimistic about the trading prospects. However, he said the requirement for a COVID-19 vaccination certificate to enter borders would work against them as businesses.

In fact, the CEO said the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on business operations in the past two years still lingered on and as such, they needed all the help they could get from government in order to turn things around. “The vaccine requirement is a barrier of our own making that, unfortunately, is giving our neighbouring countries an unfair competitive advantage as they have no such requirement in place. This will keep tourists away at a time when their holiday-spend is desperately needed by our country’s hospitality industry,” the CEO said in the statement. Thereafter, Dlamini said as an organisation and businesspeople, they were hopeful that they would receive a positive response from the minister who, to date, had not disappointed them.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Health Nkosi, confirmed that she had been approached by BE over the issue of COVID-19 vaccination certificates. In fact, she said before them, the hospitality industry made the same request. However, she said COVID-19 was not over yet, as it reflected in their weekly bulletin. She said based on their COVID-19 data, they were moving to different level of the response - decelerating. Thereafter, the minister said they needed to continue with vaccination to protect the nation. She said people needed to continue with hygiene protocols, including wearing masks when they had flu-like symptoms to protect others. She then said the change of protocols at ports of entry would be announced by the Prime Minister’s Office.

Situation

On the other hand, the CEO said the country’s socio-political situation continued to be of grave concern, primarily as no one seemed to know if there were any credible attempts being made to attenuate the rising temperature out there. He said sources close to the situation had opined that in the absence of any credible measures being taken to de-escalate hostilities through some form of constructive engagement, the situation could well spiral out of control. Dlamini said already, it was beginning to wreak havoc on the investment potential of this country at a time when the economy was beginning to pick up nicely. He added that this was unfortunate, especially in light of the ongoing efforts to create vacancies in order to accommodate the country’s unemployed youth.

Again, he said businesses would no doubt agree that the country’s ability to attract foreign and local direct investments in order to create the jobs desperately needed by the people, especially the youth, was largely dependent on the peace and stability of the nation. He said without which the country’s value proposition as a preferred investment destination would be out of kilter with the region. The CEO further said equally, if not most importantly, they were not unmindful of the fact that the investors they already had in-country needed some degree of predictability if they were expected to have the confidence to continue expanding their operations locally. “It is critical that we retain the investment projects that we already have,” the CEO said.

Once more, he said they were aware that no one was unaffected by what was going on and as such, they commiserated with everyone in that regard. He said it was for this reason that they were encouraging all concerned to find it in their hearts to cease hostilities and to sincerely reach out to one another in an unpretentious and dignified manner. He said the situation was calling for visible leadership, which was grounded on humility of heart and public service. Dlamini said the custom of constructive engagement to resolve their differences as emaSwati, was a practice that was deeply embedded in their cultural DNA. He added that it was a beautiful gift bequeathed to them by their forebears who, for centuries, lived and flourished by practising it.

As it stands, he said the situation out there was already untenable and an escalation would undoubtedly put paid to any prospects of an amicable resolution. For their part as the private sector, however, he said they would not afford to lose hope as the duty to create the country’s jobs rested upon their shoulders. In that regard, he urged businesses to believe that their leaders would do the right thing and do so urgently. In the meantime, he prayed fervently that they all gave peace a chance.