Sudan unrest caught us by surprise, says Durban woman upon return to SA

A South African woman who returned safely to the country after being trapped in Khartoum in war-torn Sudan on Tuesday told TimesLIVE Premium that the unrest that broke out last week caught them by surprise. 

Danielle Boyles from Durban had been in Sudan since August last year after securing a job to teach at Nova International School, a nursery school. She was supposed to leave Sudan in the next few days as her contract with the school was not renewed. 

Now, she says, she doesn’t see herself ever returning to Sudan. She returned to SA on Sunday. 

Before the war, she said she never experienced any problems and the country was seemingly safe. She stayed at an apartment with other women also from South Africa who were teaching at the same school.

She said she had learnt protests were a normal occurrence in Sudan and they quickly died down.

“We were at home that Saturday morning, and we were just lying in our rooms, and we heard a noise. We lived on the first floor in our apartment, and we thought that people were busy downstairs with repairs,” she said.  

She added that normally on Saturdays, they heard workers working outside but that day the noise just started getting louder and there were numerous loud bangs.  

“I even screamed trying to find out what was happening. One of my roommates came out of her room and said that she thinks something is going on.”.  

They browsed through their phones to find out if there was any news, but there wasn’t any.  

“We were looking outside, and I think my other roommate got word that there was something happening. So, we quickly messaged our families back home in South Africa and let them know that there is something happening and we are not sure yet what it is,” she said.  

She said normally when there were protests in Sudan, the government cut off the internet and this prompted them to swiftly text their families back in South Africa.

As the day progressed, they received information through their other friends in the area that there was a war going on.  

“There was loud gunfire. We were so scared because it just got louder and louder. The whole day we were in communication with our families. We stocked up on water and food and other essentials.”  

“We thought it was going to be like a regular protest which starts in the morning and ends in the evening,” she said.  

Late in the evening on that day the gunfire escalated, confirming that they were in trouble.  

She said people were hiding in their apartments and couldn’t go outside.  

I don’t think I will ever go back. I was asked by my boss before this war if I would like to renew my contract with the school but I refused. I felt that one academic year was enough for me.

—  Danielle Boyles

She said when she left South Africa, her mother wasn’t happy about her decision and knew something terrible could happen in that country.

Boyles said she secured the job after browsing online for work and the principal of the school was a woman from Cape Town. She sent her CV and was hired. 

“She [her mother] said I don’t want you to go to this country, but me being adventurous I insisted that I am going and didn’t think anything will happen — so I went,” she said.  

For about four days they remained trapped in their apartment until one of her roommates started communicating with the South African embassy.  

She said their boss, who stayed in an apartment close to theirs in Khartoum, then warned them he was leaving the city and they should leave with him and his family.  

“We told him that we were in communication with the South African embassy which is working on a plan of evacuation,” she said.  

The situation escalated when the house of the mother of their Sudanese boss got hit and he suddenly gave them the money and left the area.  

She said at the time she was constantly communicating with her family in South Africa. She said they then moved to the hotel where they stayed for at least four days until they went to a place where buses picked up South Africans and they made their way out of Sudan.  

“I don’t think I will ever go back. I was asked by my boss before this war if I would like to renew my contract with the school but I refused. I felt that one academic year was enough for me. I was supposed to fly out on May 7,” she said.

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