S. Africa decries travel bans, says it is being punished for discovering variant

South Africa, whose citizens have suddenly become persona non grata around the world after the discovery of a new Covid-19 variant in the country, says it is being “punished” and unfairly treated for sounding the alarm.

JOHANNESBURG • South Africa, whose citizens have suddenly become persona non grata around the world after the discovery of a new Covid-19 variant in the country, says it is being “punished” and unfairly treated for sounding the alarm.

The government in the country worst hit by the pandemic on the continent is seething over the stigma it is suffering for being the bearer of bad news.

The decision by many countries around the world to ban flights from parts of Africa following the discovery of the variant, named Omicron, “is akin to punishing South Africa for its advanced genomic sequencing and the ability to detect new variants quicker”, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

“Excellent science should be applauded and not punished,” it added. “New variants have been detected in other countries. Each of those cases have had no recent links with southern Africa”, yet the global “reaction to those countries is starkly different to cases in southern Africa”.