From the left: Siya Mhlaluka, Andrew Muir, Ian Nicholls, Alfred da Costa, Phillip Gutsche
A group of former Presidents of the Nelson Mandela Bay Chamber have added their voices to the strong drive by organised business to accelerate the pace of vaccinations in the city.
“Achieving herd immunity is vital to kick-staring economic recovery initiatives,” emphasises Immediate Past President, Andrew Muir. “We are concerned that the current pace of take-up of vaccinations is too slow, especially considering that the fourth wave is projected to impact South Africa in early December. The timing for this couldn’t be worse, as December is traditionally the time when the tourism, restaurants, shebeens and the entertainment sectors are at their busiest. Another December without domestic and international tourists visiting our area, could cause thousands of people in these sectors to be without jobs. Already job losses in these sectors has been severe where many retrenchments have taken place and or people have been placed on short-time.”
“We have a gap between now and December, and as such we should all do everything possible to encourage people to get vaccinated so that we can preserve jobs, particularly in the most impacted sectors of our economy,” highlights Muir. “There are now numerous vaccination sites available around the city, ensuring easy access for all. On balance and given the facts, based on medical science, vaccinations provide the best possible option for dealing with the impact of covid-19 and saving lives.”
Siyabulela Mhlaluka, who served as President of the Chamber between 2007 and 2009 and currently serves as Vice-President, agreed that achieving a high vaccination rate of the city’s population, would be the most significant contributor towards the lifting of restrictions and the generation of economic activity. “As organised business, we need to demonstrate courageous leadership on the issue of vaccinations and lead by example,” he said. “Also we know that the debate around vaccinations is divisive, and that people are concerned about the integrity of the information available. We strongly urge people to take heed of the information provided by trusted medical sources and to refer to accredited data such as the recent report released by Groote Schuur Hospital which highlighted that none of the people who were in high-care or on ventilators were vaccinated – demonstrating the importance of vaccinations in saving lives.”
Phil Gutsche, who was involved in the Chamber for many years and served as President from 2003 to 2005, strongly supports the roll-out of vaccinations in the workplace. “Vaccination against Covid-19 is a very personal, but important subject! I strongly endorse the principle of the Chamber’s recommendation for all employers to support and comply, unless the individual has a valid medical certificate confirming the reason for not complying. Both my wife and I have received our two jabs”.
Also voicing support for the acceleration of vaccinations is Alfred da Costa, who was Chamber President from 2009 to 2011. “The only way we can get the limitations and restrictions on our lives and economic activity lifted, is by fighting this virus with the best possible weapons available –vaccinations,” he emphasises. “In South Africa we are fortunate to have the vaccines with among the highest efficacy rates in the world available to us. We now need to all do the responsible thing and get vaccinated and by doing so, we can prevent further unnecessary loss of life and get economic activities going again.”
Another former Chamber President who is a firm believer of the importance of vaccinations and their role in saving lives and jobs, is Ian Nicholls who served in the role from 2015 to 2017. He urges people to make informed decisions based on medical and scientific facts. “Social media and hearsay cannot be trusted as accurate sources of covid-19 and vaccine related information. Paranoia, speculation and conspiracy theories cannot dictate our actions, particularly not during what is probably one of most challenging times in modern life. Rather we should reference facts from accredited medical sources, which confirm that there is sufficient evidence that vaccinations are on balance our best defence measure against the virus.”
Issued by the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber Communications Office.
For any media queries, please contact Sibongile Dimbaza on media@nmbbusinesschamber.co.za.