These repatriated South Africans include the more than two dozen citizens that were stranded in the North African country of Morocco. 

Youssef Azzakani, who is amongst the Morocco group, flew into Johannesburg on Sunday alongside his fellow countrymen. Youssef’s wife Rajaa, who is based in Cape Town, tells OFM News her husband and others are now completing their 14-day quarantine in Johannesburg. Rajaa says she is relieved and so grateful that Youssef is on the same soil as his family again. 

Youssef, who holds dual-citizenship in Morocco and South Africa, was visiting family at the time of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns in both Morocco and South Africa. Rajaa previously told OFM News that when the first travel ban came into effect around mid-March they tried to push Youssef’s return date 12 days earlier - 1 April 2020. However, both governments introduced and extended their respective lockdowns and travel bans to curb the spread of the outbreak in the countries prior to this date placing the family in a predicament. The concern at the time centered around Youssef’s health. He is insulin dependent and during those uncertain times it was unknown if he would be able to access more of his medication. 

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) has revealed that they expected the cost of repatriating 5 239 citizens would be more than R90 million, however, the figure for now is just above R10 million. The cost of the entire repatriation process is, however, expected to escalate as the government brings citizens back home from the United States of America, Russia, Vietnam, India, Qatar, and the United Kingdom in the coming weeks. 

Dirco Minister, Naledi Pandor, said in a statement on the repatriation that the process “is not easy, given the various restrictions implemented by countries across the world. The process involved a lot of negotiations with multiple stakeholders, which explains why we couldn’t repatriate some as speedily as we wished”. Pandor says they established a 24-hour Command Centre to assist those who couldn’t access officials abroad as the initial part of the process. The Dirco Minister has expressed her gratitude to all who were a part of organising the entire process.

OFM News