About 100 South Africans in Ghana repatriated amid Covid-19 lockdown

Johannesburg – About 100 South African nationals who were in Ghana on special missions and had completed their jobs have been repatriated to their home country amid the Covid-19 lockdown, Graphic Online reported. 

According to the newspaper, the South African ambassador to Ghana, Lulana Ximgwana, who escorted them to Kotoka International Airport (KIA) on Monday, said that in consultation with the South African government and the government of Ghana the citizens were granted permission to return to South Africa.

“Most of the people going home have been here working on projects for their companies. Some have been attending to meetings for their companies and they’ve finished those tasks. Very few of them were here on holidays visiting friends and families.

“They were to return early April but because of the lockdown they were not able to fly, although some had return tickets,” she said.

Last week President Cyril Ramaphosa extended the lockdown period in South Africa until the end of April and his government said some gains had been made in slowing down the spread of the virus.

"After careful consideration of the available evidence, the National Coronavirus Command Council has decided to extend the nationwide lockdown by a further two weeks beyond the initial 21 days," Ramaphosa announced.

Ghana has also extended its lockdown of the country's two main regions to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. The two-week restriction on movement around the capital Accra and in the Kumasi area would be prolonged from Monday.

President Nana Akufo-Addo said in a national broadcast late on Thursday: "It is important that we stay the course and bear with the difficulties that come with it. The final result, hopefully, will be freedom from the virus."

South Africa has recorded 2 272 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with 410 recoveries and 27 deaths, while Ghana has a total of 566 confirmed cases, four recoveries and eight deaths.

African News Agency/ANA