Many of us watched anxiously last night to hear what President Ramaphosa had to say about the travel ban and we are thrilled that he has condemned the travel bans inflicted by the UK, EU and US.

"This is a clear and completely unjustified departure from the commitment made by many countries at the G20 in Rome just last month. Countries that have imposed restrictions on our country and our sister African countries. These restrictions are completely unjustified and unfairly discriminate against us, are not informed by science and won't be effective. The travel ban will further damage economies and undermine ability to recover from the pandemic. We call upon these countries to reverse their decisions and lift the band before further damage is done." - President Cyril Ramaphosa.

BBC news reported today that 6 cases of the Omicrom variant have been detected in Scotland. Some of those affected have no recent travel history. Ref: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-59457332

We have reached 5000 signatures which is a fantastic landmark, however if we want to be heard we need to increase signatures, and quickly! If everyone shares this and just one person from your network signs we could double this by the end of the day! So please continue to share the petition with family, friends and your community.

A big thank you to everyone who has participated thus far. If we make this happen, it will be a very merry Christmas indeed!

Dr Ayoade Alakija in a BBC interview regarding the travel bans on Africa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v_-A-ncD38

Follow up interview on SABC with Dr Ayoade Alakija: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrllN4bBMHg