The Chinese government will foot the bill for a group
of 51 South Africans to return home‚ after they unwittingly became
embroiled in a probe into their visas.
"Good news is an
understatement. We are ecstatic‚" Charl Venter‚ a parent of one of the
children‚ told TimesLIVE on Friday. "They will be flying back in groups
of three from [Monday] at the full cost of
the Chinese government."
The
group had been kept in China pending a court case against a Chinese
agent who allegedly lured them to the foreign country with a promise of
lucrative teaching jobs. He‚ however‚ allegedly did not disclose to the
group the type of qualifications they needed and instead helped them get
student visas — despite the fact that they were going to be working in
China.
"Their written testimonies will be taken and the
authorities have gone to the schools [where the group was to have been
teaching] and corroborated their statements‚" said Venter, adding that
their written statements would be sufficient and the group would not be
needed to testify before a court.
The Department of International
Relations and Co-operation had, on Thursday, announced it was
intervening and doing all it could to ensure the safe return of the
young South Africans‚ some of which have been in China since June 2017.
International
Relations and Co-operation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said Police Minister
Bheki Cele and Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba had been roped in to
assist.
Sisulu’s office said the group had gone to China with the
hope of being employed as English teachers. "The promise was that they
would get their work visas on arrival in the country‚ which never
materialised. While in China on study visas‚ they started working‚ which
was in contravention of the immigration laws of the Republic of China."
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