Somizi praises crew sent to collect South Africans stuck overseas

A call of action is under way to repatriate South Africans stranded abroad amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and media personality Somizi has applauded those who have gone to help.

Since tight boarding regulations were enforced last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa has relaxed some restrictions to allow South Africans who were stranded abroad to come back home.

A close friend of Somizi is part of a crew sent to collect South Africans in Germany and the Idols SA star shared a tribute video on his Instagram on Tuesday to honour them.

"Gradwell Magalhaes and team I'm so proud of you all. They are off to Germany to repatriate our fellow South Africans and bring them back home. When they all land they are gonna go on a 14-day quarantine," he wrote, adding that the crew were "really going beyond you call of duty".

Speaking to eNCA recently, international relations & co-operation minister Naledi Pandor said her department was going above and beyond to ensure it implemented evacuation efforts by foreign governments to return SA citizens back home. She urged South Africans who were stuck abroad to contact the department.

"We have a few people that are back home. We have had repatriation of over 163 citizens back into SA and with the help of SAA and various foreign governments, we are hoping to bring more and more South Africans who wish to come home, back home," Pandor said.

While the first group of 16 South Africans who were stranded in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Doha, Qatar, were successfully repatriated to SA last Thursday, they have since been placed under quarantine as per the regulations.