Cape Town - South Africans stranded abroad will have to fork out as much as R35000 for a repatriation flight home as some tickets prices have doubled in the past month.
Desperate citizens who can’t afford the airfare have to rely on donations and goodwill for food and temporary housing until they try to raise the money for a ticket home.
The Department of International Relations and Co-operative Affairs (Dirco) said as many as 15000 South Africans have returned since the borders were reopened for repatriations. However, they are uncertain how many citizens remain stranded.
As of today, 13 flights are scheduled to leave the country from OR Tambo and Cape Town international airports and return with citizens stranded in various countries.
SAA is operating two flights to and from Washington DC at R35000 for economy class and R51000 for business class tickets on Monday and Thursday.
Dutch airline KLM Royal has six fights between Johannesburg, Cape Town and Amsterdam at a cost of R18000 per ticket this month.
However, many citizens have raised concerns over the costs of flights, some of which have been cancelled at the last minute with a long wait for refunds. South African students studying in the US may also have to make their way home if the country enforces a new regulation announced by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
ICE said students attending universities whose classes were operating fully online have to leave the US.
Capetonian Tammy-Lee Japhta is stuck in the US and running out of money as she wasn’t able to catch her flight home in April.
She worked in the US as an au pair for a year after finishing her studies, and is now unemployed and desperate to return home.
“The longer I stay here, the more my funds deplete. My funds are already minimal to begin with because au pairs don’t make much money,” Japhta wrote on her GoFundMe page. “I am really dependent on the money I have saved up. This is a really stressful situation.”
Her only option is to book a ticket for a repatriation flight, but the price is steep.
“With the South African borders being closed, the only way home is by repatriation flights. The prices for those flights are ridiculous,” she said.
Another Western Cape resident stuck in Idaho said time to raise funds was running out as her visa would expire soon.
“I have only a third of the ticket’s price, it is crazy how just a few months ago a flight from the US was just over R16000 and now SAA is charging R35000 on a one way,” said a 35-year-old woman who wished to not be named.
“A former colleague who is stuck here with his family has to raise close to R200000 for all of them to return, it is insane. Family friends have been sending money but that is not sustainable.”
A group of South African teachers stranded in Cambodia have also created a crowd-funding campaign to raise funds to bring them home. The page created by Mare Botha a week ago has raised nearly R7000.
“Many South Africans have been left stranded and jobless, schools closed down and if they are lucky enough some are only earning 25% of their salary, which essentially is not enough to get by in a foreign country with no help from family, relatives or government, reads the page.
“Due to the financial constraints that have befallen some, they cannot pay for a repatriation flight back home.”
And the nightmare is not over for as many as 170 South Africans and Zimbabweans who have been stuck in China for nearly four months. On Thursday, their sixth attempt was delayed yet again after their Maple Aviation flight, operated by Air Zimbabwe was delayed due to technical issues.
The group of about 23 South Africans who were in Guangzhou have been living off of donations for food and accommodation after flights from June 17, were postponed for a various reasons.
Dirco spokesperson Lunga Ngqengelele said while the demand for repatriation has decreased, citizens continue to seek assistance.
“The demand has significantly lowered compared to the first few weeks. But with people either losing their jobs as countries prolong the lockdown there are people asking to be repatriated daily,” he said.
Earlier this week, CemAir repatriated 80 South African citizens from Iraq and Jordan who were stranded for more than three months. They resorted to sharing accommodation and relying on charity to survive. The trip also returned another 33 nationals to Uganda and Sudan.