Naledi Pandor

Minister of international relations & co-operation Score: 2.3

With the Covid-19 lockdown shutting SA’S borders and ports of entry into the country, Naledi Pandor and her department were responsible — along with embattled airline SAA — for helping South Africans stranded around the world to get home.

The government stepped in to assist citizens in distress, including those stranded at airports, students who were asked to evacuate their places of residence as countries implemented their own lockdowns, the elderly and those who needed medical attention. Later, the government began to receive requests from other South Africans, who had lost their jobs or had simply run out of money to sustain themselves abroad.

In May Pandor said over 5,000 SA citizens had been repatriated. There were reports of issues around the repatriation system, with some stranded travellers battling to get onto flights, and of overbooked trips. However, the minister said the process had not been easy, given the various restrictions in place across the world, and it involved negotiations with multiple stakeholders.

Though Mathekga says Pandor did little during the pandemic except repatriate a few people, Booysen believes the scaled-down list of things she could actually do means she didn’t fare too badly.

In Fikeni’s view, she has been “measured, focused and clear about what she had to do”.

Sarakinsky, however, says Pandor attempted to shape Covid-19 as an African rather than an SA issue and could have done more to lever foreign aid and support. x