Employers need to evacuate SA citizens trapped in Afghanistan, says Dirco

An undisclosed number of South Africans in Afghanistan have contacted the department of international relations and cooperation (Dirco) but, as they were employees of private companies based in that country, their employers will arrange to have them evacuated should the need arise, the department said on Monday.

This was confirmed by department spokesperson Lunga Ngqengelele, who said Dirco had received inquiries from South African citizens who worked for private firms doing business in Afghanistan.

“Their companies are therefore responsible for evacuating them if necessary. As Dirco, we stand ready to assist South Africans who find themselves stranded, wherever they are,” Ngqengelele said.

He could not give the number of South Africans trapped in the country, which had been taken over by the Taliban.

Armed Taliban forces on Sunday entered the presidential palace in Kabul, which was surrendered to them by an official of the ousted American supported government.

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There were reports of chaotic scenes at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport as countries evacuated their citizens and diplomatic staff.

The Taliban were driven out of power by an American-led invasion of the country 20 years ago.

US President Joe Biden was last night expected to deliver an address the about the situation in Afghanistan. University of Pretoria political analyst and international relations specialist Dr Sithembile Mbete said South Africa would not recognise the Taliban regime.

Instead, it recently normalised relations with the Afghan transitional government.

She said the Biden administration made a big blunder by withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan without a plan on what to do about a Taliban invasion.

“The withdrawal with no plan to prevent Taliban occupation of the country was the biggest foreign policy mistake of the Biden government. The US entered Afghanistan with no plan for what would follow the war.

“The Bush, Obama and Trump governments failed in their management of the war, Biden has just finalised that failure. It illustrates the folly of international intervention when there’s no plan or vision for what will follow the oppressive government. Unfortunately, this is how most Western regime change operations end up,” Mbete said.

The analyst echoed a sentiment expressed by the Republican’s Congress minority leader Mitch McConnell, who lambasted Biden last week for the withdrawal of the troops.

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He said the Biden administration’s exit from Afghanistan, including the frantic evacuation of Americans and vulnerable Afghans from Kabul, was a “shameful failure of American leadership”.

“The US had the capacity to avoid this disaster,” he said.

The rapid advance of the Taliban forces was expected after the US abandoned the Afghan security forces. McConnell expressed fear about the likelihood that Al Qaeda could return to plot attacks from Afghanistan.

“Everyone saw this coming except the president, who publicly and confidently dismissed these threats just a few weeks ago. The strategic, humanitarian and moral consequences of this self-inflicted wound will hurt our country and distract from other challenges for years to come,” McConnell said