Almost all 77 of the South Africans stranded in Sudan have been safely evacuated and arrived at the Egypt border, confirmed the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco).
Dirco spokesperson Clayson Monyela posted on his Twitter account on Tuesday morning that two buses carrying the South African nationals have safely arrived at the border.
He said that officials from the South African Embassy were there to receive them and facilitate their entry into Egypt.
There are 12 more nationals who are expected to leave Sudan later on Tuesday, and with them, “everyone we know will be accounted for”.
According to Monyela, the South African government will pay for their flights back to South Africa.
“The support of everyone, including Gift of the Givers and the government of Egypt, is acknowledged and appreciated,” he said.
Sudan’s capital city of Khartoum has been engulfed in a deadly military battle between the government forces led by the military ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo since the early hours of April 15.
A number of people in the capital and other cities in Sudan have been left trapped in their homes with the fighting in the streets and in the air between the army of Sudan and the paramilitary group.
This fierce battle between the military and paramilitary forces in Sudan has rung international alarm bells, with countries across the globe pulling strings to safeguard their interests.
The days of violence in Sudan have since resulted in the deaths of at least 180 people and many more wounded.
On Sunday, Monyela said evacuating the South African nationals would be a “risky and dangerous” operation.
Gift of the Givers founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman said they were also requested by the Tanzanian government to assist them in evacuating their nationals from Sudan.
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