Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Patricia de Lille says the delay that South Africans returning to the country experienced at OR Tambo International Airport on Monday night was because her department was not notified timeously about their arrival.
The group was supposed to be taken to a quarantine site after their arrival but were stuck at the airport for hours.
De Lille says while accommodation is organised by her department, the Department of Health first needs to check if the site is lockdown compliant.
She says despite the initial delay, passengers were accommodated in nearby hotels.
“Public Works and Infrastructure must be given 72 hours notice to activate the site that was approved by the Department of Health to be used for quarantine site and activating those hotels and the facility. If it’s a hotel – we need to give the hotel at least 48 hours. The Department of Health must come into the hotel to put up a medical facility,” De Lille says.
In the video below, discussion on South Africans stranded in foreign countries:
