Durban – The majority of South Africans that were evacuated from Khartoum have reached Egypt from Sudan after fleeing the armed conflict between rival factions of the military government of the country which began earlier this month.
In an interview with eNCA on Tuesday night, Gift of the Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman said that two buses carrying 38 South African and seven Angolans reached Egypt.
“Due to challenges of not having a passport due to the rush in evacuating from Khartoum, nine people are at the border of Egypt while the remaining 36 people have crossed into Egypt into the City of Aswan,” said Sooliman.
“The other nine people are not in terrible circumstances, but Dirco (SA’s Department of International Relations and Co-operation) is working with the Egyptian government to get the paperwork cleared so they can enter the Egyptian side and from there go to Aswan.”
He added that Gift of the Givers had arranged food and accommodation for all 45 people in Aswan, Egypt.
“We also have to remember the buses that transported the people from Khartoum can’t just cross into Egypt; they have to stop at the border. Other buses have to be arranged to take the people from the border into Aswan and this was arranged by Dirco. One will take 36 people away while a second bus will wait for the other nine people.”
According to Sooliman, while the 38 South African have reached Egypt in this group there are other South Africans that have to be evacuated.
“Three South Africans landed in Djibouti; I'm not sure if they are still in Djibouti or gone out. It also depends on the passport availability. These three South Africans got a lift while other European countries were evacuating their citizens.”
At the time of the interview Sooliman said there were 13 South Africans still in Sudan.