Important Info for South Africans Stranded Abroad from DIRCO

South Africans stranded abroad are encouraged to call DIRCO’s helpline and send a short email with their plight (details below), as the Department of International Relations and Cooperation weighs up the situation and what steps to take.

Currently it is not looking that positive that the South Africans will be evacuated, as the country is on lockdown and focused on trying to fight the monster that is coronavirus.

Elphus Ravhudzulo from Dirco told SAPeople that at this stage, Dirco has no plans to evacuate anyone… BUT he said that an internal task team has been set up to assess all the queries, with the necessary departments, before any final decisions can be made.

It’s therefore important that South Africans worldwide who were trying to get home send emails immediately so that Dirco can guage the situation in each country.

As reported by SAPeople yesterday, over 150 South Africans were stuck in transit on Thursday at Heathrow Airport, some of whom were still at the airport until way after midnight – Justine Megan Segal (pictured above) was “still sitting on the floor at the airport” when SAPeople spoke to her at 1am. Fortunately she finally got a hotel at 2am.

But the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) told us today that there are even more people stranded in places like Ghana and Lagos.

Dirco Recommends South Africans Stranded Abroad Do The Following:

• Call Dirco’s 24-hour number: 00 27 12-351-1000 for advice
• Send a short concise email explaining your location and predicament to dircopress01@dirco.gov.za

The DA’s Shadow Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Darren Bergman, is doing all he can to help the South Africans stranded abroad. You can also let us know if you’d like to be updated if anything changes – send an email with SA Abroad in the subject.