A Qatar
Airways plane carrying more than 200 South Africans, who were repatriated from
Doha’s Hamad International Airport, landed in Johannesburg on Wednesday night.
This
after they were left stranded in
Qatar on Tuesday after the aircraft had to turn around on the runway, which
resulted in them sleeping at the airport before departing on Wednesday
morning.
The
aircraft landed just before 20:00.
Speaking
to News24 upon arrival, Tyler Goncalves said he was relieved to finally land on
home soil.
Goncalves,
who worked in the hospitality industry in Doha, said upon landing they were
screened and would be taken to a quarantine site afterwards.
“It’s
a big relief. In Doha, we entered lockdown pretty early and we all stayed in a
residential compound together. It’s nice to just be
home knowing that I am closer to my family. It feels a lot better,”
the 25-year-old added. Another passenger, Clinton Collard, who was also
stranded at the airport on Tuesday night, said he was happy to have finally
landed.He said they were waiting for other passengers
to have their passports stamped, adding he believed they would be transported
to a quarantine site in Sandton.”It’s good to be back on
SA soil. I am very relieved,” Collard added.
Earlier,
the Department of Public Works told News24 it was ready to receive the
returnees.
To avoid
Monday night’s situation when hundreds of people were stuck on the tarmac at OR
Tambo International Airport after landing from Washington DC, Public Works Minister
Patricia de Lille’s spokesperson, Zara Nicholson, said this would not be the
case for the group who landed on Wednesday evening.
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| A citizens in Washington DC frustrated as they struggle
to get SAA tickets
“We
were notified about that flight on Monday, and were initially told it was
coming on Tuesday, which it didn’t. In any event, we carried on procuring the
site, it was ready as of yesterday. And will be ready for the repatriates
tonight [Wednesday].”
Nicholson
said the department had experienced difficulties because it was informed late
about the arrival of flights, and this had slowed down its procurement
processes.
She added
an agreement was in place in which the department would be given a 72-hour
notice about the arrival of repatriation flights.
JUST IN: Govt has changed the rules on when vehicles are
allowed on the road | @BISouthAfrica https://t.co/d2TdJbw0si pic.twitter.com/3dMkj4R6Zs
— News24
(@News24) May 6, 2020
“That’s
the reason why that situation happened on Monday because we were not given the
agreed notice in time. But the department then had those sites ready.
WATCH
| About 200 repatriated South
Africans stranded at OR Tambo airport without food and water
“Again
now, with the Qatar flight, we were notified on Monday, which is not 72 hours
in advance, but we did the procurement. Just the fact that it’s not within 72
hours puts the department in a difficult position, but it was done, so we are
ready for that Qatar flight tonight [Wednesday].”
Nicholson
said the department was now getting ready because many flights, regardless of
changes, were coming in from all over the world.
Sites
The
department said it would continue procuring and getting sites ready in the
event flights started landing unannounced.
“That’s
the reason why that situation happened on Monday because we were not given the
agreed notice in time. But the department then had those sites ready.
WATCH
| About 200 repatriated South
Africans stranded at OR Tambo airport without food and water
“Again
now, with the Qatar flight, we were notified on Monday, which is not 72 hours
in advance, but we did the procurement. Just the fact that it’s not within 72
hours puts the department in a difficult position, but it was done, so we are
ready for that Qatar flight tonight [Wednesday].”
Nicholson
said the department was now getting ready because many flights, regardless of
changes, were coming in from all over the world.
Sites
The
department said it would continue procuring and getting sites ready in the
event flights started landing unannounced.
While
some have blamed the problems on the government not having enough quarantine
sites procured for repatriates, Nicholson said this was not the case.
She added
the department was procuring as many sites as possible to accommodate people
who needed to be quarantined when they arrived in the country.
Outlining
the national number of quarantine sites to date, Nicholson said 1 418 have been
identified, representing more than 109 000 beds across the country.
She added
once sites were proposed, they were assessed by the Department of Health, which
then decided whether it met the criteria.
Nicholson
said to date, 328 sites had been assessed and deemed compliant, representing 24
884 beds. Of these, 114 facilities had been activated, representing 11 685
beds available for quarantine requirements.
Of the
sites, 636 are state-owned and 782 are privately owned.
“To
date, a total of 5 443 infected individuals have been quarantined. Some of the
5 443 quarantined in recent weeks have been discharged as they were cleared
after the 14-day incubation period.”
