‘If you love South Africa, get vaccinated’ - Tourism DG
The director-general in the Department of Tourism Victor Tharage says South Africans who love their country and the economy will get vaccinated against Covid-19.
Tharage was speaking at the launch of Tourism Month at the Golden Gate National Park in the Free State on Friday.
“I think all of us as a collective, residents and citizens, let us get vaccinated. That is the message we would like to send. If you love South Africa, if you love the people of South Africa and the economy of South Africa and want to save the jobs of South Africa, please do get vaccinated. That will actually get us to the levels where we have been, but even beyond.”
Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, the tourism sector has been one of the hardest hit in the country.
It has been estimated that between 150 000 to 200 000 people lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic.
Tharage says over 1.5 million people in the sector have also been affected by the pandemic.
“We are not talking about small numbers before Covid-19 we had 1.5 million working in the sector and we need them to get back to work,” said Tharage.
“That will definitely have a meaningful and real visible impact on the unemployment rate.”
Earlier this week, statistician-general Risenga Maluleke released the unemployment statistics which painted a bleak picture for the country.
The country’s official unemployment rate climbed to 34.4% translation to 7.8 million people being unemployed in the country.
Free State Tourism MEC Makalo Mohale says South Africans must find ways of living with the pandemic.
“We need to be realistic that we are still going to live with this demon called Covid-19. We cannot give up but we must find ways on how we navigate this pandemic to make sure that the sector doesn’t collapse.”
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