Johannesburg - The chief executive of Tammy Taylor Nails South Africa emphasises that safety and saving lives comes first as the company said it would at a later stage only allow vaccinated people to enter their stores.
The discussion and dilemma of jobs or jabs has been in the forefront of public discourse since last week when Discovery announced that it would be mandatory for all staff to get vaccinated from the start of 2022.
Leaders of the beauty industry Tammy Taylor Nails South Africa also joined in the discussion when the chief executive Peet Viljoen said that Tammy Taylor would at a later stage only let vaccinated people enter their stores, including staff and customers.
Viljoen told The Star on Wednesday that although it is controversial, some brands needed to take a stand on vaccination and the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have lost family members, young family, due to Covid-19, including my wife’s sister who passed away at the age of 36. We also thought it was just the flu in the beginning and we thought that only old and unhealthy people died quickly but my sister-in-law died within two weeks of getting it,” the chief executive said.
Viljoen added that when he was younger polio and many other diseases were the diseases of concern but they weren’t as contagious as Covid-19 and he and his wife, the company director, have first-hand experience of the devastation of the disease.
“Because we have first-hand knowledge that it kills people, we have taken the stance that by the time that the vaccines are readily available to the overall public, at that point our position is that it’s a life-threatening disease so we have to protect both our nail technicians, franchisee and the general public,” he said.
Viljoen said that as an industry leader in nails and beauty in South Africa, if a franchisee loses one nail technician for one month, they lose R100 000 in revenue.
“We understand that people have freedom of choice and we grant people that but the moment your freedom threatens my life, at that point I need to take a stance,” he said.
When asked if Viljoen was concerned about the impact of the mandatory vaccination stance on Tammy Taylor staff and customers, he said saving lives came first.
“If you abandon principles, you invite chaos. Our principle is safety first. We understand that we might lose a small percentage but our salons will be known as a very safe environment and that can come at any cost,” he said.
The Star