The family of Nomaqocwa Blackie say they have not yet received assistance from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) following the confirmation of her death in China.
The 29-year-old known by her loved ones as Noma left the Eastern Cape in 2017 to pursue a career as an English teacher in Shanghai.
Chinese officials and her South African colleague, Abongile Mboto, reportedly found her dead next to her bed over a week ago. Noma’s brother, Arthur Blackie says they are waiting on Chinese authorities to reveal the cause of her death.
“They have been sending us from pillar to post. We have a family friend who is based in Pretoria who is the one assisting us with visiting the embassies and there was an email that came from him that he did speak with a representative from DIRCO and they only told him that we needed to do a Power of Attorney document which must go to the high court and the lawyers and we have done that and sent it to him. It should arrive to him today. The other Power of Attorney forms that we received came from the embassy and Consulate of China. But as for DIRCO, there was nothing. They have not called us or texted us. We are working directly with the embassy of China,” says Blackie.
