This as OFM News was reliably informed last week that the hotel, which has a landing strip 6,7km away, is one of the venues being scouted as a possibility where those repatriated could be placed for the planned 21-day quarantine period. 

The OFM News team also paid a visit to the now-defunct Thaba Nchu Airport, which displayed no signs of the landing strip being readied for the arrival of any aircraft, let alone a military one. The hotel on the other end appears to be functioning as normal, with services being rendered to customers as normal.

Black Mountain General Manager, Peter Leonard, declined to comment on the matter previously. Free State Health spokesperson, Mondli Mvambi, says his department is ready for when any of the repatriated citizens are heading towards the province. The presidency is referring to any media questions on the execution of the repatriation process to the National Department of Health. 

Meanwhile, the chairperson of the South African Human Rights Commission, Bongani Majola, is in Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu inspecting various health facilities in the Free State, amidst murmurs South Africans to be repatriated from China will be quarantined in the province. He will round off his visit to the province in Welkom on Wednesday.

Last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that South Africans who are stranded in Wuhan city in Hubei province, China, will be brought back home. There are 62 Free State students under lockdown in the same province and they might be making up the bulk of those who return to South Africa.

This is a developing story.

OFM News