Reports of removal from UK’s red list a welcome surprise 

14 December 2021

I welcome reports that the United Kingdom (UK) government will remove South Africa and other countries from their so-called “red list” effective tomorrow morning.

This is good news for Cape Town, and we are ready and waiting to welcome tourists into our beautiful city with open arms.

The City of Cape Town, its tourism partners and the Western Cape Government have lobbied extensively for this reversal, which will help the local tourism industry make gains this peak summer season. Our immediate response was to pivot quickly to adapt by relaunching our Pocket Friendly Campaign to encourage local tourists to visit Cape Town as a summer holiday destination. We still encourage our friends from other parts of the country to make their way to this city for a responsible and relaxed year-end break.

To the British public we say, there’s still time to hop on a plane to Cape Town and have an unforgettable summer holiday. See you here soon!

Tourism is a major contributor to the Cape economy and provides significant employment during the peak tourist months of December and January. I am glad to read that the UK government has allowed reason to prevail and reversed the decision to place South Africa on their red list.

Issued by Greg Wagner, Spokesperson to the Mayor, 14 December 2021