Citizens stranded in Bali get desperate as flights don’t materialise

South Africa relies on the availability of flights from host countries and negotiations with foreign governments in repatriating more than 1,000 South Africans trapped abroad during the global Covid-19 crisis, according to department of international relations and cooperation spokesperson Lunga Ngqengelele.

Responding to appeals for assistance by South Africans stranded for six weeks on the Indonesian island of Bali, Ngqengelele said government was aware of their plight and had “put a repatriation team in place to look into assisting them, as well as others in other countries”.

“They are not alone and are not forgotten. We are continuing to do everything possible to get them back home,” said Ngqengelele.

“Our repatriation programme involves negotiations for assistance from foreign governments and the availability of flights coming to South Africa.

“We have over 1,000 South Africans abroad wishing to return home by plane, excluding those wishing to return through our borders. At times, we have to divert flights to SA and in most cases, we are dealing with countries under lockdown.”

Among those trapped in Bali is Hexham creative director Rudi Massyn, who yesterday was pessimistic about returning home soon.

“We’ve been in Bali for six weeks now and there is no sign of us coming home any time soon. Our latest e-mail from the airline last week is that we’re looking at the end of May,” said Massyn.

“There are no repatriation plans with a solid outcome on the horizon. There appears to be about 130 South Africans trying to return home from Indonesia and we’ve exhausted most of our options. Apparently, a flight with an African airline is taking off soon, but we have been asked to pay exorbitant amounts.”

The majority of those in Indonesia have confirmed tickets with more-than-willing airlines to take them home, but they cannot make it happen because of the lockdown’s restrictions on travel.

“Surely, citizens trying to return home cannot be measured against other forms of commercial travel,” Massyn said. “Surely, strategic efforts could be initiated to repatriate South Africans.

“For those of us stranded abroad, the situation is precarious and unsettling, to say the least. The president gave us three days to coordinate efforts to leave our destinations before lockdown was implemented, which was completely unrealistic.”

– brians@citizen.co.za

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