‘We were treated like pariahs’
Students repatriated from India slam SA government for delay in providing flight for their safe return
THE ww of about 300 people who were repatriated from India last week will be known tomorrow as they await their test results for Covid-19.
After weeks of fighting, praying and holding onto the hope of being reunited with their families, a group of 270 citizens boarded an SAA flight from Mumbai, India, to OR Tambo International Airport in Joburg.
They arrived about 9pm on Sunday evening after a 14-hour flight which came at the personal expense of R15 000.
The group is being quarantined at The Indaba Hotel in Fourways, Joburg, and are under constant surveillance. They were tested yesterday and their results were expected to be ready tomorrow.
If they test positive, they will be taken to an off-site facility and treated until further tests could be conducted. But if tests come back negative, they are free to go.
But getting back home has been arduous and filled with hurdles for Yahya Moola, a final year medical student originally from North Beach, in Durban.
Moola was trying to get home to his family for more than nine weeks.
“I study at Hebei North
University in China. I’m gaining practical experience at Gopala
Gowda Shanthaveri Memorial Hospital in Mysore, India.
“But when the pandemic struck I knew that I needed to get home to my family.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation at about 8pm on March 24, and announced that the country would go into total lockdown from midnight.
“Four hours is virtually no time at all to make plans to return home.
“Then on March 27, our country went into lockdown which made things next to impossible, but I tried my best to come home.
“I pleaded with embassies and begged government to come home but to no avail.”
Moola said his urgency was because his father had contracted septicaemia on April 9.
“My father’s condition deteriorated and he was then diagnosed as Covid-19 positive on April 20. I desperately pleaded again with the government and every consulate. I provided the required proof from Life Entabeni Hospital of his critical condition.”
Over the course of four weeks, Moola continued to beg the government for help but in that time his father, Mohamed Saleem Moola, one of the owners of the Jolly
Grubber restaurant chain, died.
“He passed on April 28 and the funeral was completed an hour after his death. I blame the incompetence of government and the dragging of their feet. I never got to say goodbye to my father or grieve with my family. I was alone in isolation stuck in a different country.
“I even spent Eid without my family, in a hotel room.”
Keiyuren Govender from Queensburgh was another member of the repatriated group.
He was studying towards an
MBA at Bangalore University on a scholarship from the Indian government, then the pandemic struck.
“Life as we knew it changed, lockdown was tough and to be in a foreign country without family is tougher. I was treated like a pariah, in India. They believed I was one of the foreigners who brought the virus.
“I was scared and tried to stay indoors and away from people as much as I could.”
But then Govender jumped at the opportunity to be repatriated and return home.
“The cost of the ticket, R15 000, is a lot of money but I knew that I needed to come home. We made a plan and came up with the money.
“The next step was getting from Bangalore to the airport in Mumbai.
“Since there was no public transport a group of us met up and drove.”
Govender said the drive was a gruelling 16 hours but he had no other options.
“We arrived at the airport and eventually got boarded on to the plane. It was terrifying. We were told that there would be social distancing but we were packed like sardines.
“I wore my mask and gloves the whole time.
“I was petrified because the lady next to me coughed non-stop.”
Govender said he was grateful to be back in the country and almost home with his family.
“When I am released I will hire a car and drive straight to Durban.
“The government said they would give us travel permits. All I want to do is have a braai and drink a cold beer with my family. I don’t know what the future holds for us but at least I will be at home.”