VEREENIGING. – After  weeks of uncertainty and isolation in Australia, Mrs Bonny Immelman of Three Rivers, Vereeniging, is back in South Africa.

Bonny, a widow and mother of a five year old son, traveled to Sydney two months ago for a two-week business training course. It was her first overseas trip. Her ordeal started when South Africa’s lockdown was announced just when she was about to return home. For Bonny, like the hundreds of South Africans stranded in Australia, no return flights were available.

After weeks of pursuing every possible avenue through South Africa’s and Australia’s foreign affairs and other governmental institutions, a Qantas flight was arranged to take Bonny home along with some 183 stranded South Africans.

They touched down at OR Tambo Airport on April 29 but the frustration wasn’t over yet because the passengers’ quarantine and isolation had to continue for two more weeks before they could see their families and return to their respective homes.

“The Qantas staff were very friendly and helpful. Once we landed at OR Tambo, we waited on board so that our temperatures could be taken. The staff at OR Tambo were very welcoming. We got onto buses and drove in convoy to our quarantine facility. The whole process, while lengthy, was well-organised,” says Bonny, who was quarantined in Garden Court Hotel in Eastgate. Although the staff were very friendly and her stay very pleasurable with three hot meals a day, wi-fi, aircons, TV and more, her only wish was to see her son, Leslie.

“Nurses came around daily to take our temperature. Although it was frustrating being confined to our rooms, I was more than happy with the quarantine as it was one step closer to getting home.”

That day came shortly before Mothers Day after Bonny got the green light to go home.

“Being reunited with my son was amazing. He did some form of a victory dance when he first saw me. It also took him a few seconds to actually realize it was me. He has not left my side since I have been back. I am so grateful for all of the help and support I got from friends and family, especially my in-laws, Dr Gary and Mrs Lorna Immelman, who looked after my little boy while I couldn’t.

“My initial two-week trip was amazing. Australia is an absolutely beautiful country. The extended stay was quite hard for me but mainly because I was away from my son. The uncertainty of when you would be able to get home was very stressful. I definitely won’t be in a hurry to fly anywhere soon, and next time my son will definitely be coming with me,” she says.

Report by R. Fitchat

Language editing: Carol Pittendrigh