NEWSLETTER ON THE REPATRIATION OF SOUTH AFRICAN CITIZENS

21 May 2020

#Repatriation

Over 5 000 South Africans have been repatriated to date.Hundreds more have crossed over land borders from neighbouring states.

The repatriation process

“The process of repatriation is not easy, given the various restrictions implemented bycountries across the world. The process involves a lot of negotiations with multiplestakeholders, which explains why we couldn’t repatriate some as speedily as we wished.

“To properly coordinate this process, my department established a Command Centre, whichoperates 24 hours a day to help those who were unable to reach our missions abroad.

The repatriation of South Africans is a humanitarian mission that is coordinated by the NationalJoint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) with the guidance of the NationalCoronavirus Command Council (NCCC), chaired by the President.”

The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Dr Naledi Pandor, virtually briefed the media on the repatriation process, 21 May 2020

“In the coming days and weeks, we will continue to bring our nationals home.These will include South Africans from the United States of America, Russia,India, Qatar, and the United Kingdom, among others.

“The department is aware of many other South Africans who remain strandedabroad and continues to appeal for their patience as we explore and negotiateways of bringing them back home.

“It is also important to note that while the Government is facilitating thereturn of our nationals, should they wish to return abroad after the lockdownis lifted, the Government will not bear the cost.” – Minister Naledi Pandor

“South Africans abroad requiring repatriation have been encouraged to contact our embassies to enable the department to assess the demand in each country.”

We thank each and every one

“Allow me to take this opportunity to thank officials at all our embassies, led by our esteemedambassadors and high commissioners, our team here at Head Office, led by the Director-General, for the excellent work they have been doing, spending sleepless nights negotiating forthe movement of South Africans, securing permits and flight clearances that brought SouthAfricans back home.

“The pandemic has disrupted nations, corporations and our daily lives. The repatriation wascarried through collaboration across several departments and were fortunate to have the trustof our citizens that we would assist. Several countries supported the repatriation efforts, as didinterested organisations.

“On behalf of our government and people, I wish to extend our heartfelt gratitude to allgovernments and people of the world who have helped our citizens during their time of need,while abroad. These repatriations would not have been possible without the excellentcooperation we got from the international community.”

CONTACT US DIRCO Command Centre: +27 12 351 1754+27 12 351 1756

Cicc1@dirco.gov.za or Cicc2@dirco.gov.za

Following the declaration of the State of Disaster by President Cyril Ramaphosa, which saw South Africaimplementing the national lockdown on 26 March 2020, the Department of International Relations andCooperation (DIRCO) has facilitated the repatriation of 5 239 South Africans stranded abroad (by air).Hundreds more have also returned through our land borders.

The repatriation process was implemented to assist South Africans who were in distress. They included thosestranded at airports, students who were asked to evacuate their places of residence as many countries wereimplementing their lockdowns, the elderly and those in need of medical attention. With time, more requestswere received from other categories of South Africans, who either lost their jobs due to companies andschools being affected by the lockdowns and/or they simply ran out of money to continue to sustainthemselves abroad.

Over the past few days, South Africans stranded in Morocco, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, CongoBrazzaville, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Angola, Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, Pakistan and Qatarwere repatriated. In the coming days and weeks, South Africans will be repatriated from, among others, theUnited States of America (USA), Russia, India, Qatar and the United Kingdom (UK).

8 April 2020A SAA flight from São Paulo repatriated 66 South Africans from BrazilA SAA flight from Frankfurt repatriated 54 South Africans from Germany

9 April 2020A Turkish Air cargo flight repatriated two South Africans accompanying the mortal remains of the deceased father

10 April 2020A private charter repatriated four South Africans from AfghanistanA private charter repatriated 49 South Africans from Namibia

11 April 2020A SAA flight from Brussels to Johannesburg, with a stop-over in Lagos, repatriated 119 South AfricansA private charter repatriated 41 South Africans from the Maldives

12 April 2020A SAA flight from London to Cape Town repatriated 200 South AfricansA private charter repatriated four South Africans from Madagascar

13 April 2020A SAA flight from Ghana repatriated 62 South Africans A special charter flight from ExecuJet Aviation repatriated nine South Africans from Equatorial Guinea

14 April 2020A private charter repatriated three South Africans from Zambia

15 April 2020A SAA flight chartered by Workaways International in the United States of America (USA) repatriated 305 South African workers

16 April 2020An Ethiopian Airlines cargo flight from Addis Ababa repatriated 13 South Africans

17 April 2020A SAA flight from Frankfurt via Luanda repatriated 84 South Africans

18 April 2020A SAA flight from Frankfurt via Rome repatriated 80 South Africans from ItalyA private charter repatriated six South African crew members from Haiti

19 April 2020A SAA flight from Frankfurt repatriated 206 South Africans A private charter flight repatriated 36 South Africans from Luanda, Angola A private charter flight from Cameroon via Luanda, Angola, repatriated 29 South Africans

21 April 2020A Saudi Air flight repatriated 93 South Africans from Saudi ArabiaA private charter repatriated 83 South Africans from Pakistan

23 April 2020A SAA flight re-routed through Cairo, Egypt, repatriated 25 South AfricansA Saudi Air flight repatriated 60 South Africans A special charter flight from the DRC repatriated 11 South Africans

24 April 2020A special charter flight repatriated 23 South Africans from ZambiaA special charter flight repatriated two South Africans from Zambia

25 April 2020The last SAA flight from Frankfurt, chartered by the German Government, returned to South Africa with 160 people on boardAn Emirates Air flight repatriated 165 South Africans on a special charter flight from DubaiA special charter flight repatriated nine South Africans from Guinea ConakryA special charter flight repatriated 23 South Africans from the Seychelles

28 April 2020A Qantas Air flight, chartered by the Australian Government, repatriated 185 South Africans

29 April 2020A charter flight from Tanzania repatriated 26 South AfricansA charter flight from Egypt repatriated 13 South AfricansA charter flight from the DRC repatriated 51 South Africans

30 April 2020A Namibian Air charter repatriated 23 South Africans

1 May 2020A charter flight from Mali repatriated 19 South AfricansA CemAir charter flight from Harare repatriated 26 passengersAn Ethiopian Airlines charter repatriated 256 South Africans (Workaways)A private charter flight repatriated three South Africans from Madagascar

2 May 2020A private charter flight repatriated 19 South Africans from Mali

3 May 2020A SAA flight from Washington, USA, repatriated 275 South Africans A flight from Ethiopia repatriated 27 South Africans

4 May 2020A flight from Zambia repatriated 21 South Africans

7 May 2020A flight from Qatar repatriated 121 South Africans

8 May 2020A flight from Jeddah repatriated 165 South Africans A flight from Bangkok repatriated 235 South Africans A flight from St Helena repatriated one South African patientA flight from Guinea repatriated nine South AfricansA flight from Bali and Jakarta repatriated 134 South Africans

10 May 2020A flight from Washington repatriated 236 passengersA flight from Zambia repatriated 18 passengers

10 May 2020A flight from Washington repatriated 236 passengersA flight from Zambia repatriated 18 passengers

11 May 2020A flight from Windhoek, Namibia, repatriated 18 South Africans Another flight from Windhoek repatriated 26 South AfricansA flight from Zambia repatriated 21 South Africans

12 May 2020A private charter from Beira repatriated three South Africans A flight from Qatar repatriated 167 South Africans

13 May 2020A CemAir flight from the DRC (24), Angola (53) and Botswana (one) repatriated 78 South AfricansA charter flight from Equatorial Guinea repatriated nine South Africans

14 May 2020A charter flight from Pakistan repatriated 107 South Africans

16 May 2020A charter flight from Lubumbashi, DRC, repatriated 35 South Africans A Qatar Airways flight repatriated 236 South Africans from Doha

17 May 2020A special charter flight from CemAir repatriated South Africans from five African countries, including Casablanca, Morocco (28); Nouakchot, Mauritania (12); Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (12); Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (19); and Pointe Noire, Congo Brazzaville (seven)

21 May 2020An Airlink flight from St Helena repatriated four South Africans A Qatar Airways flight repatriated 95 South Africans.

ARRIVALS TO DATE

CONTACT US: Command Centre: +27 12 351 1754+27 12 351 1756Cicc1@dirco.gov.za or Cicc2@dirco.gov.za

ACSA HAS FACILITATED EVACUATION,

REPATRIATION OF OVER 13 783 PASSENGERS

Source: https://www.iol.co.za/travel/travel-news/pics-south-africans-return-home-after-covid-19-hell-in-thailand-47794344

Source: https://m.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/watch-south-africans-cry-with-joy-after-landing-back-home-20200517

Source: https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/sebenza-live/2020-05-13-repatriated-twins-advocate-for-social-distancing/

Source: https://www.enca.com/news/watch-stranded-south-africans-brought-home

“He applauded the South African Embassy for doing all the paperwork and for their hard work behind the scenes to ensure the flight took off.”

Source: https://www.businessinsider.co.za/saa-repatriation-flights-2020-5

DIRCO added that the process to repatriate was

not easy and was coordinated by the

National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure

(Natjoints), with the guidance of the National Coronavirus Command

Council (NCCC).

Source: https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1060511-dirco-facilitates-repatriation-of-south-africans-stranded-abroad

CONTACT US Command Centre: +27 12 351 1754+27 12 351 1756Cicc1@dirco.gov.za or Cicc2@dirco.gov.za

ACSA HAS FACILITATED EVACUATION,

REPATRIATION OF OVER 13 783 PASSENGERS

SOCIAL MEDIA SAYS