South African women stranded in Oman amid passport dispute

South Africans who are being offered employment abroad must interact with the authorities before leaving the country to avoid a situation where they find themselves stranded in foreign countries.

This is the view of the department of international relations and cooperation spokesperson Clayson Monyela, who was reacting to the three South African women stuck in Oman, Middle East, after their employers reportedly confiscated their documents, including passports and identity books.

Dirco assisting women stranded in Oman

Monyela said the department was in the process of assisting two of the three women through South Africa’s embassy in Saudi Arabia as they do not have an office in Oman.

“We are trying our best to address this crisis, but it is not an easy task because we do not have a representative.

“We have so many cases like these in different countries whereby our people are stuck after things go wrong with the jobs they were promised,” Monyela said.

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Monyela said there were many South Africans who fell into the trap of scammers, while others had legitimate job offers but later became unemployed.

In an interview with The Citizen, one of the affected women, who asked not to be named, confirmed the report and said her employers seized her documents after she complained about her unpaid six-month salary.

Life in limbo

The 31-year-old, who has been teaching English in Oman, said her life was in limbo as her employer was demanding R60 000 to return her documents.

“The owner of the school failed to pay my salary for six months and I reported the matter to the authorities. A few days later I resigned and on 23 November I was kicked out of the house,” said the irate woman.

“They took my laptop, phones and personal documents claiming that I must pay a R60 000 penalty fee for breach of contract.

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“I have tried in vain to get my documents but the law of the country is on the side of the employer,” she said.

In response, Oman’s National Committee to Combating Human Trafficking said it “has not received any complaints from South African citizens regarding this matter, either through our official channels or via their embassy”.

“We take such concerns very seriously and urge any affected individuals to reach out to us directly,” it said.

It urged South African citizens in need of assistance to visit its official website and contact its designated hotline at 80044777 or its WhatsApp line at +96893855917.