AfriForum and several individuals’ court application for the relief of repatriation problems were to be heard in the Northern Gauteng High Court in Pretoria today. Issues raised in the court documents include the fact that South Africans who repatriate from abroad to South Africa are obliged to remain in quarantine for a minimum of fourteen days in a facility designated by the state; that they are sometimes exposed to unacceptable facilities and behaviour, but have no official complaint channel through which solutions can be found expediently; that communication about their repatriation and quarantine occurs sporadically and thus leads to great uncertainty, tension and frustrations; that in some cases people may be forced to pay for their quarantine accommodation themselves; and that people returning from abroad should be tested for COVID-19 as soon as possible for the safety of everyone involved.

At the eleventh hour, the relevant government departments requested that the case be postponed. Because AfriForum’s legal team understands the seriousness and necessity of the case, they requested an urgent allocation for it. The Acting Deputy Judge-President declared that the case will be heard in the week of 29 June 2020.

Until then, the requirement of fourteen days of mandatory quarantine remains unchanged.