Lockdown: Glen Marais mom will be back home on Sunday
She and her father had an uphill battle to get her back home.
A Glen Marais mother (42) is finally back in the country after having been stranded in Botswana since the beginning of the lockdown on March 27.
During that period Charleen de Leur’s two young children were without their parents during the day as their dad was at work.She is currently under quarantine at Bakgatla Resort in the Pilanesberg and will be able to go home on Sunday.
She crossed the border on May 17 and was tested for Covid-19 on May 19.
De Leur was visiting her father Hennie Pistorius in Gaborone before the official commencement of the lockdown in South Africa.
In Express’ first conversation with De Leur on May 6, tears were running as she explained that her two children, Caitlyn (8) and Joshua (6), had a lot of prescribed homework to keep up with.
“My fear is that the children don’t do their work as they should with only a domestic worker with them. Their grandmother also takes care of them, but she’s not always well.”
The longing for her family made matters worse.
De Leur suffers from arthritis. “I’m on chronic treatment. Along with my high stress levels I develop inflammation that results into me barely being able to walk or touch with my hands.”
She and her father had an uphill battle to get her back home. They liaised with the South African embassy in Gaborone on April 21 and eventually contacted the DA Shadow Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, Darren Bergman.
“On May 6 feedback was received from the high commissioner that the request had been granted to have 50 people return home.”
However, they contacted Bergman in the hope of speeding up the process and begin the quarantine period as soon as possible.
“Feedback from [Bergman] stated it would take up to seven days to respond since he received a lot of emails,” said De Leur.
Express spoke to Bergman about the process required to get people back in South Africa in the face of strict lockdown regulations worldwide.
“Through my Parliamentary portfolio, I started a platform known as Home Away From Home, to assist in trying to bring back as many stranded South Africans abroad as we could.
“We tried to achieve this by lobbying government at the time to open airports to start repatriation flights and to document as many stranded South Africans as possible.”
Naturally, this resulted in a flood of requests daily and Bergman said it was overwhelming to process as much as possible.
“Charleen had been one of thousands of cases. I receive over 500 emails that require responses. I do not have a secretary or administrator to assist me.
“To date, projects like Bergman’s Home Away from Home have ensured that thousands have returned home.
“Six weeks into the project and with over 4 500 people back in South Africa, we need to appreciate that this has been one of the most productive elements of Covid-19 initiatives.”
De Leur said she crossed the border with her dad’s bakkie and on the way met the sweetest elderly man. He will leave from Pilanesberg with her and she will drop him in Magaliesburg where he resides.
She said the man helped her a great deal on the trip home in light of her medical condition.
