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A group of South Africans who were repatriated from the United States on Sunday have endured a nightmare, after they were taken to a facilities that they were not meant to be sent to in what the Minister of Public Works, Patricia de Lille, believes to be a scam.
Speaking to News24, de Lille said the department was investigating an incident where 180 repatriates from the US were taken to different quarantine sites that the department had not signed off on.
These included an Eskom, Telkom and Transnet site which had no authorisation from the department.
“The people that had authorised the diversion of the 180 people and diverted them to Eskom and all those places, had no authority from the Department of Public Works.
“Therefore, I’ve written to the director general this morning, I want a full investigation,” de Lille said.
“We don’t know the reasons of why they decided to divert people… I think it is definitely a scam and that’s why I have asked for an immediate investigation,” she added.
De Lille said she had instructed that the repatriates be moved immediately to the hotel that was originally procured for them.
She said the repatriates were taken to an Eskom facility where there was no electricity or water, as well as a Telkom facility where there no Wifi and people were not fed for about 15 hours.
“It was a mess. I am investigating it and I have instructed that those people move back to the two hotels that we procured for them,” she said.
Speaking to News24, two of the repatriates, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed their disgust at the state of the facility – a Transnet campus in Kempton Park.
They said it was dilapidated, dirty and unhygienic.
When they arrived on Sunday, they spent hours on the tarmac gathering their belongings. But, when they got into the transport that would take them to their quarantine destinations, they said their driver did not know where they were going – in fact, no one did.
When they eventually got to the facility, they found stains on the walls and floors, as well as on the mattresses and bedding. Mould grew in the bathrooms which frequently flooded, while furniture and curtains were on the brink of falling apart.
They allege the food they were given was “disgusting”, with “no nutritional value”, and that they had felt as if they were in a prison, as they were not allowed outside for some sun.
‘Not meant to be taken there’
Department of Public Works spokesperson Zara Nicholson said the repatriated South Africans were “not meant to be taken there”.
Conditions in the quarantine facility. (ALL PHOTOS: Supplied/Anonymous)
“The minister has asked the [director general] to look into why the people were taken there, and who is responsible,” said Nicholson.
One of the South Africans, after complaining to an independent person who was overseeing the operation, was allegedly asked to pay R14 000 so that she could be moved to another facility.
But Nicholson clarified that the group would not have to pay to be moved.
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