The Citizen reports that with only three days left till the State of the Nation Address (Sona) and the tourism and hospitality industry urging President Cyril Ramaphosa to consider the economy, there have been growing calls for the national state of disaster to be scrapped.

National chair of the Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa (Fedhasa), Rosemary Anderson, said they were hoping announcements at Sona would make it more conducive for the tourism and hospitality sector to prosper and create jobs. In her view, this could be accomplished if the announcement included aspects such as visa waivers, which had not yet been developed for international tourism markets, so that it was easier to visit SA. “Currently huge tourism markets like China and India find it very difficult to visit South Africa, since in order to do so, they have to present themselves in person at an embassy before they can access a visa to SA,” Anderson pointed out. She said they also hoped for an end to the national state of disaster. National coordinator of SA Township and Village Tourism, Thato Mothopeng, also said the national state of disaster needed to end. “The challenge now is we are in an economic crisis,” he warned.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lunga Simelane at The Citizen

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