The irony of all the fuss over the new Covid Omicron variant, is that it has already entered those countries which have banned us from entry.
And it is entirely possible that it originated in any of them!
South Africans have a right to be offended, if not outraged, by this treatment of first world countries.
The political games governments play in the name of protecting their citizens make it increasingly difficult for poorer countries to recover from the pandemic.
Much has been done to Africa in the past based on fear and ignorance. I hope history will not be repeating itself.
Listening to our President on Sunday evening, I was a little nervous to hear how he would react to the news. A jump backwards to level 4 perhaps? Beaches closed?
Let’s face it, our government does not have the best track record for making sensible decisions.
So, it was a great relief to hear him stand up for common sense for a change and challenge the travel bans head on.
I don’t know if it will do any good, but I do hope that some countries see the light.
While I believe flights to the UK are due to resume next week, with SA back on the red list only British or Irish nationals, or travellers with residence rights in the UK, have been permitted to enter, with the controversial hotel quarantine programme back in full force.
Flights are also said to be selling out faster than flat screen TVs on Black Friday.
Reuters interviewed Dr Angelique Coetzee, a private practitioner and chairperson of the South African Medical Association who identified Omicron.
Her exact words were that in her experience the variant causes “very, very mild symptoms” and none of her patients were hospitalised.
“The most predominant clinical complaint is severe fatigue for one or two days, accompanied by headaches and body aches and pain,” said Dr Coetzee.
So, a single sniffle disrupts the entire world?
A great many South Africans have family living abroad and many have not seen each other for the duration of the pandemic.
We asked readers how they were affected by the ban and the overwhelming response was, “Our hearts are broken!”
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In other news, the military was spotted in Ballito on Monday.
There has been much speculation as to what they were up to.
But, considering that SANDF launched its 6th bakery over the weekend, my money is on a scoping mission of Concha Café to nab the perfect recipe.
The military is short of dough after all, so this makes perfect sense (truthfully, I first checked my calendar to see if it wasn’t April 1).
The Democratic Alliance is jumping up and down about it.
Possibly a good thing, because who knows, next the army could launch its own laundry service.
Perhaps they are just trying to be proactive – gun-slinging bakers ‘making cake not war’?
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There are few things as disappointing as forgetting to spray your Natal lilies.
One day you have a lush thriving plant with the promise of gorgeous white to pinkish red, large tubular flowers, and the next, nothing.
Just a mangled mess covered in zebra-striped lily borer caterpillars (nasty little things originally from the Mediterranean).
The carnage is sudden and without mercy. I was gutted.
I have been watching my lilies pop out of the ground since the start of spring (the bulbs are completely dormant in winter), with great anticipation of the impressive flower display to come.
And I have been saying to myself for a few weeks now that I really must spray them… Argh! I only managed to save two plants.
This happens every year, this cyclical war between me and the wretched caterpillars, and I really should know better by now.
I am a novice gardener, mostly in fits and starts.
To have a truly magnificent garden you have to invest a lot of time in it.
For now I am just grateful for the plants that thrive on neglect.
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