Thirty South Africans who were evacuated from Libya landed on home soil on Monday after political unrest reached boiling point in the North African country, the international relations and cooperation department said on Monday.
“They are all quite happy to be here and many of them are reuniting with their families,” said spokesperson Clayson Monyela.
Ten other foreigners who were also evacuated arrived with them at the Waterkloof Airforce Base in Pretoria after midnight.
One was a British national and nine were from neighbouring Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, and Mozambique.
“Some of them were working there and others were students,” said Monyela.
On Sunday night, the South African embassy in Libya was shut down and the employees flown back to South Africa. They were among the 30.
“We were gravely concerned about their circumstances and there was a security concern. The embassy has now been totally shut down,” said Monyela.
“Our decision was to get them out as their safety was our main priority.”
None of them were injured.
‘Civil war’
He explained that during the unrest in Libya, the embassy staff were in constant contact with the group to make sure they were safe.
A massive revolt erupted in Libya, one of Africa’s biggest oil producers, against long-time leader Moammar Gadaffi.
Government forces and regime opponents have reportedly been in violent clashes with witnesses describing events as a “civil war”.
Some 4 600 people fleeing the violence in Libya, mostly Chinese nationals, reportedly departed to the Greek ports of Piraeus and Heraklion on Sunday. Three Greek ferries evacuated more than 7 000 foreign nationals from Libya.
The South African government earlier this month urged all Libyans to find a speedy and peaceful resolution to the crisis in their country.
Government continued to monitor the situation with interest and called on all parties involved to exercise restraint to prevent further loss of life. — Sapa