A group of Zimbabweans living George, Western Cape Province, South Africa, are yearning to return home after authorities across the Limpopo extended the lockdown to the end of April.
Respect Majoni, who spoke to TellZim on behalf of the group, said they are now facing starvation with no help forthcoming from the South African government or the Zimbabwean consulate in Cape Town. Said Majoni:
Here in George, the people I know who desperately need to go home add up to 24. We had convinced ourselves that we could manage for 21 days but the extension has turned everything upside down.
If we remain stuck, here we are definitely going to die of hunger. It’s better for this situation to prevail while we are in our home country.
We went to seek help at Thembalethu Police Station but they laughed us away and mocked us. We had expected them to help us get travelling passes so we could travel back to Zimbabwe.
On many occasions, we called the Zimbabwean consulate in Cape Town but nobody picked the calls.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on April 9 announced an extension of the lockdown to the end of the month as the country battles to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
South Africa is the hardest-hit country in Africa, with the country’s Health Minister Zwelini Mkhize announcing on Sunday night that the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country is now at 2 173.