Cape Town - With tears in their eyes families and loved ones welcomed South Africans home after their gruelling evacuation from two weeks of being stuck in war-torn Sudan.
On Sunday, International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) Minister Naledi Pandor was at OR Tambo International Airport to welcome them back after their week-long evacuation led by the SA government, neighbouring countries and Gift of the Givers.
With exhaustion heavy in their voices, some of the returning South Africans spoke to the Cape Argus and said they all felt gratitude for the tremendous effort made in getting them out of the civil war in Sudan, as well as a deep sense of relief to be back on home soil with their loved ones.
Birgitte Davy, who worked as a human resources specialist in Khartoum for four years, said: “My message to the people of Sudan is that we continue to hold you in our prayers and we urge the world to intervene to bring about peace.”
Davy and several others spent two days and nights at the Egyptian border without food or shelter as their passports were with the Sudan department of labour, so the Egyptian authorities would not let them through.
“Thousands of people were in the same boat. I saw Sudanese families trying to cross the border into Egypt with old, frail family members on beds, on stretchers and in wheelchairs. What is playing out in Sudan is a humanitarian disaster and the world has fled, instead of standing by to assist,” Davy said.
Teachers Demi van der Westhuizen and André van Blerk arrived at Cape Town International Airport on Sunday. They said they were relieved to be home but also mourned the city of Khartoum where they lived.
Van Blerk said: “Although we are physically freed from the fighting, we are not actually free because of what the Sudanese people are still experiencing, and only once Sudan has peace will we actually be freed from this chaos.”
Pandor said: “We as the government hope that we can play some role in bringing peace back to Sudan, because I don’t think we should desert the people of Sudan. It is in South Africa’s policy that we must try wherever we can on our continent to silence the guns... We will try to make every effort to really engage with the current conflict party in Sudan to persuade them to lay down arms and persuade them to work for peace.”
These were thought to be the last remaining South Africans from Sudan, but on Monday morning Gift of the Givers received a distress call that 22 South Africans still remained trapped on a boat at Safaga Port in Egypt.
The Gift of the Givers’ founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman said the South Africans have been waiting in the boat for the past three days for clearance to catch the flight from Cairo to South Africa.
Dirco spokesperson Clayson Monyela said, “Our team in Cairo will intervene and assist in getting the necessary clearances required.”
Monyela added that their employer has so far been responsive, covering all costs and ensuring that their employees are taken care of.
kristin.engel@inl.co.za