Government has brought back 93 South Africans who were stranded in Turkey, including 29 musicians. The Departments of Arts and Culture and International Relations coordinated the process which saw the group arrive home on Friday night
They have since been taken to a quarantine facility. As the musicians could not afford their airfare back, having not earned an income due to the coronavirus lockdown, their flight was arranged with Turkish authorities who were sending a flight to South Africa to repatriate its own citizens.
“The department along with Dirco have managed to coordinate the repatriation of 29 young artists who found themselves stranded in Turkey. They were stuck without any source of income or without any financial support and subsequently could not afford the airfare on a Turkish Air Flight that was flying to South Africa. The 29 were part of the 93 South Africans granted approval to board the flight to South Africa. They arrived last night and were taken to a government facility for mandatory quarantine” says the spokesperson for the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture Masechaba Khumalo.
22 South Africans remain stranded in Kenya as airline cancels flight
A group of 22 South Africans who were to be repatriated from Kenya – as the world battles coronavirus – remain stranded in Nairobi.
This after SEMAIR, the airline that was to evacuate them, again cancelled at the 11th hour.
The airline is alleged to have failed to inform passengers and the South African High Commission in Kenya.
The High Commission says it is in contact with the airline to provide accommodation for the 22 South Africans.
One of the passengers is Kevin Sellis. He says the airline has so far cancelled three times with very little information to those affected.
In the video below, South Africans living abroad share their COVID-19 experiences:
The commercial airliner was scheduled to leave Nairobi on Tuesday afternoon, with stopovers in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In the video below, in early May at least 1 000 South Africans were to be repatriated from the USA:
