We're desperate to come home, say South Africans waiting to be evacuated from China
|Published
Johannesburg – Following complaints from a father of one of the South African students stranded in Hubei University of Technology in Wuhan - the epicentre of the coronavirus (Covid-19) - that he can’t get hold of his son, Teboho Sehlolo, Sunday Independent managed to locate and speak to the architecture student via email.
Sehloho confirmed he was one of the 36 students sponsored by the Free State government, studying at the Chinese university.
Sehloho talked about what has been happening since the outbreak of the deadly virus that has killed more than 2800 people and infected more than 83 000 worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation.
“We’ve been on lockdown for almost a month now. Anxiety is
taking over, depression is kicking in, our government being unable to help is affecting my mental health, I feel hopeless and abandoned,” he said.
When asked about the prospects of him coming home, Sehloho said: “Of course I want to come back home. It’s health before wealth and I don’t compromise.
“Responsible countries have evacuated their citizens because they know how deadly the virus is, and now only Africans are stuck in the city.
“Whenever I look at some of my country mates I see broken souls, I see people who lost hope, wondering if they’re gonna make it home safe... and these kids graduated before the outbreak, and the situation is bad,” said the 5th-year student.
Sehloho said most students wanted to be evacuated - nothing mattered any more, not even their degrees.
His desperate father, Mosala
Ntsetselane, has complained that he last spoke to his son, whom he misses very much, via WhatsApp a month ago when he had said that he was “scared” and wanted to come home.
He said he was frustrated because the government wasn’t communicating with the parents about what it intended doing.
But on Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered the repatriation of South African citizens from Wuhan city in Hubei province, China,
following the coronavirus outbreak.
It is estimated that there are 199 South Africans citizens in Wuhan, as per the latest consolidated list from the Department of International Relations and Co-operation.
At this stage, 132 of them have expressed the desire to be repatriated.
According to a statement, upon arrival in South Africa, they will be placed in quarantine for 21 days as an additional precautionary measure.
Fears of Covid-19 have spread worldwide since the outbreak last year.
Ntsetselane said he only heard from the news on TV that his son and others would be repatriated.
“No one called me from the
government about their coming,
“I just heard from the news in the
morning (Friday) about
citizens coming back, but I don’t know when and I don’t know if my son is among those returning. I haven’t been in contact with him for the past month.
“I want him to come back because I don’t know if he is safe or not. The last time I spoke to him, I asked him if he was safe. He said, ‘I can’t tell you if I am alright’. All I want now is for him to come back home.”
Ntsetselane said he doesn’t mind if his son is quarantined, as long as he knows that he is safe.
Since last year, the respiratory
disease has spread to Italy, Iran, South Korea and Germany.
In Africa, Algeria has confirmed that it has two cases, both of the patients are Italian nationals.
So far, no cases have been
confirmed in South Africa.
The National Institute for
Communicable Diseases is monitoring the outbreak and has to date tested about 121 people, all of whom have been confirmed negative.
It has been reported that the evacuation and subsequent
quarantine would cost an estimated R80 million. A site has reportedly been identified in the Free State to house the quarantine centre.