International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor is expected to welcome back the remaining group of South Africans who were evacuated from Sudan at the OR Tambo International Airport this morning.

There was a sigh of relief as the first group of 10 evacuees who were stuck in war-torn Sudan landed at OR Tambo yesterday afternoon.

They were evacuated from Sudan and taken to Saudi Arabia.

DIRCO says that all South Africans who were stuck in conflict-torn Sudan have been safely evacuated.

Jonathan Hainsworth who was trapped there as a result of the outbreak of violence also arrived at the OR Tambo International Airport yesterday.

Claudine Hainsworth says that her family is relieved that their son was rescued.

“He’s a very jovial character, our son Johno- so. He was never in doubt that he’ll be rescued and that he’ll be on his way home. But it was very nerve-racking because they shut the internet down, so we couldn’t really make contact. We had no way of communicating with him, so that was not nice not knowing what’s going on. We asked him what he would like to do, but I think he would just like to sleep because he literally hasn’t slept properly for 4 or 5 days- but definitely, there’s a braai waiting for him.” she adds.

Lara Broderick who was at the airport to welcome her family member says, “I’m very relieved it’s been a very stressful week for everybody involved.”

Some family members and concerned South Africans took to Twitter to thank the government and the Gift of the Givers for facilitating the safe return of South African citizens.

The conflict between Sudan’s army and a paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces has triggered a rush among countries to evacuate their diplomats and citizens.

More than 450 people have been killed and nearly 4200 others wounded in the fighting. Over  75 000 people were displaced in the first week of the fighting which started about two weeks ago.

Source: SABC News