MBABANE: Senator Thulisile Dladla, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has announced that the government of the United Kingdom(UK) has banned travelling for Emaswati and other citizens of countries within the Southern African Development Community(SADC) in the midst of the COVID-19 second wave.

In a press statement released on the 14th January 2021, the Minister said this decision from the UK government will not only affect eSwatini alone as countries like Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho, Mozambique and Angola were also included.

"The Ministry wishes to clarify that British and Irish nationals, longer-term visa holders and permanent residents are exempt from the ban, but will still have to self-isolate on arrival", reads the statement in part.

Cyril Ramaphosa, the President for the Republic of South Africa when addressing the nation on Monday acknowledged the existence of the new COVID-19 variant.

"We do know that this new variant of the virus spreads much faster than the earlier variants. This explains the fact that many people have become infected in a shorter space of time", said the President