Many thousands of South Africans have been stranded abroad as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.
Somewhere in the range of 3 750 to 4 250 South African citizens have been repatriated, but many more remain stranded and are appealing to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).
Some of those still stranded have no means of support, no place to stay and are running short of money, food, and medication. They are in countries where they have no knowledge of the language and are bereft of support and denied information.
This is a situation not of their own making.
Getting them back is complicated by the airport regulations imposed by the Department of Transport and uncertainties over the availability of air transport.
They have been given minimal support from many South African diplomatic missions run by DIRCO – some of which have been totally unsympathetic to their dire situation. According to a newspaper report, a DIRCO diplomat is alleged to have told a citizen to pull themselves together and “stop being a cry baby”.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) Deputy Shadow Minister for International Relations Mergan Chetty determined via a written parliamentary question that DIRCO spends an average of R28 231 000 per South African foreign mission annually, with the top ten missions ranging from R65 337 000 million at the mission in Luanda, Angola to the most expensive being R102 815 000 at Geneva, Switzerland.
DIRCO must utilise this budget for foreign missions at this critical time when these foreign missions are needed most for stranded citizen. These citizens have paid for service delivery in their hour of need and DIRCO must front up. They should not be berated or referred to as “cry babies”.
The DA has collected information from those already repatriated of the treatment they have received from South African missions and individual diplomats abroad and from those still struggling to return home. This will be made public in due course.
In the meantime the DA, through its members worldwide, will continue to monitor in detail the treatment stranded South Africans receive from DIRCO’s foreign missions and report this back to the relevant DA MPs to address to their committees.