A South African student who was evacuated from war-torn Ukraine has called on South Africa to push for peace in Ukraine as the armed conflict rages on.
Several South African students who were evacuated from Ukraine arrived at OR Tambo International Airport yesterday (Thurs) as millions of people flee the eastern European country.
The students from various universities in the Ukraine finally made their way home and were greeted by their families, officials from the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) and Aspen Pharmacare.
The students and other nationals had crossed into neighbouring countries such as Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia but most did not have the means to return home.
Tinyiko Malubana and Mkateko Mtonga were two family members who were waiting for their cousin, Vutlahri Mtonga, to walk through Terminal A at the airport and welcome the fifth-year medical student back with open arms.
Malubana told The Star that the family felt overwhelmed but they were excited and thanked God that Vutlahri was finally home.
“When the war started, the whole family was worried and praying that God keeps her safe. She is finally here today and we are excited even though our mothers couldn’t be here, but we are here for her,” Malubana said.
When Vutlahri arrived, her cousins ran to her and engulfed her in a big hug. Their relief that the medical student had made it home was visible on their faces.
Speaking to the media, Vutlahri said being in Ukraine when the war started was a traumatic experience.
“War is nothing to play with or have the media wanting to only use it for media gain as well as ratings. These are real people's lives and people are dying on the other side of the world,” the student said.
Vutlahri said the message she wanted to put across to South Africans is that there is a “human genocide” happening in Ukraine as people are being bombed and are dying every day.
“My plea is that we take it seriously and we need to make sure that our government does push for peace in the land of Ukraine. I understand that we are members of BRICS and the country has strong alliance with the country, but we as a global community need to bring peace to that land because the people need it,” she said.
The student extended her thanks to South African ambassador to Ukraine André Groenewald who facilitated the students’ departure from the Hungarian border.
When asked about reaching the Hungarian border, Vutlahri said she did not want to speak about it as she was still traumatised by the experience.
“I don’t want to relive that trauma and I’m not interested in answering that. I’m interested in how South Africa can help Ukraine and how can we help the people there. How can we help bring peace there?” she said.
Dirco’s deputy director-general Clayson Monyela said Groenewald worked closely with other volunteers and co-ordinated efforts to move South Africans into neighbouring countries.
“We are very grateful that we have not been leaving anybody behind because our primary objective was to get our people to safety,” Monyela said.
He said that on the list of citizens to be evacuated were other South Africans who aren’t students. Monyela said at last count there were about 78 South Africans whose citizenship was verified by the Department of Home Affairs and there were 24 students in total.
“Some of them have already arrived back in South Africa and today is an addition to that. We still have 15 who are still out there, but they are safe and tickets have been bought,” he said.
The remaining students will be arriving in South Africa in the coming days, Monyela said.
Stavros Nicolaou, Aspen Group senior executive: strategic trade, said: “Our students are our future, and it is important that the spirit of ubuntu prevailed and that together with our government we were able to move swiftly to ensure their safe and timely return. We hope that they will be able to resume their studies in the not-too-distant future.”
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