Coronavirus: DA requests urgent Executive Statement from Minister Pandor on the fate of 85 stranded South Africans in China
18 February 2020
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has been in contact with officials from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) to inform them of around 85 South Africans who are currently stuck in China, despite them wanting to be evacuated and returned to South Africa in light of the outbreak of the Coronavirus.
Whilst the DA was heartened to learn that South African students and teachers had been evacuated from China it was disappointing to hear that these 85 South African citizens were being completely ignored by the South African government.
The DA has therefore written to Minister Naledi Pandor to request that she makes an urgent Executive Statement to the National Assembly as to why only half the South African community in China were assisted out of the country and the other half has been left to their own devices.
Rule 133 of the National Assembly makes provision for a Minister to request the Speaker for an opportunity to make a statement on pertinent matters which Parliament should be informed of. The DA is of the view that the outbreak of Coronavirus and its impact on the wellbeing of South African citizens warrants such a statement. The DA has been fielding frantic calls from concerned parents and family and often has to offer the support that the government should be offering. When something major like an evacuation takes place, it is vital that the reasons why that evacuation was allowed and the other was not is conveyed so that it alleys any fears that politics was at play.