Pretoria - Following an intervention to assist South African workers stranded in Egypt while fleeing the war in Sudan, government has appealed to South Africans travelling abroad or companies taking South Africans out of the country to inform the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco).
In an update, Dirco said the Egyptian authorities have now granted permission for the South African group of 22 workers to travel to Cairo and catch a flight, which will take them through Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia.
The South Africans were working on an unspecified project in Sudan when the war broke out. The group fled Sudan in a boat arranged by their employer and arrived at an Egyptian port.
For days, the group of South Africans became stranded in the boat at the Port of Safaga in Egypt. Their evacuation mission hit a snag in Egypt, as some in the group did not have the requisite travel documents.
Dirco finally intervened, and officials from South Africa’s embassy in Cairo went to sign off for the group, enabling them to get off the boat.
“The lesson from this experience is that private companies who choose to make their own travel arrangements for their employees, in a situation like the one that is at play currently in Sudan, it is always beneficial to inform, to talk to government because there are processes that have to be complied with,” said Dirco spokesperson Clayson Monyela.
“There are certain interventions that can only be made by government. We are happy now that all the South African nationals that we know of that we are aware of have all been successfully evacuated out of Sudan.
“We mounted an operation that was not easy, that was dangerous and risky with the support of countries like Egypt, Sudan itself, Saudi Arabia, support of Gift of the Givers - we have been able to bring our people home. We are happy with that, and we would like to acknowledge the South African National Defence Force for their role in making this possible,” he said.
Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands wounded since the war erupted on April 15, following a heated power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Earlier this week, Monyela told television channel Newzroom Afrika that government was unaware of the presence of the group of 22 South Africans who were doing their private business.
“We are contacted (because) the people are now stuck here, although, initially, when they planned and made arrangements, they didn’t inform us; they didn’t involve us. Because these are South African nationals, we have now activated our team in Cairo at the South African embassy. We are now dealing with this matter,” he said.
On Sunday, International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor was joined by Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise at OR Tambo International Airport, where a group of at least 51 South Africans evacuated from Sudan arrived home.
Another batch of 10 South Africans evacuated from Sudan had landed at home on Saturday, on a commercial airline.
IOL