Cape Town - Three South Africans have died in China this year alone. This was revealed by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) spokesperson Clayson Monyela.
All the deceased are women who had gone to China for greener pastures.
The latest death is that of Siphosethu Mqokozo, 30, who left the country in 2019 to work as an English teacher. Before that, it was 27-year-old Lusanda Sixaxeni from Mossel Bay and Nomoqocwa Blackie, 29, an Eastern Cape woman, who went to China in 2017 to also teach English, was found dead in her flat in Shanghai on April 18.
The families of all these women said they appeared healthy when they last spoke to them and their deaths came as a shock.
Siphosethu’s sister, Lubabalo Mqokozo said her sister did not show any signs of ill health when she last spoke to her. Siphosethu is said to have died after suffering an apparent panic attack.
“She was doing fine and did not say she was suffering from something. It is still difficult to process that she is no more,” she said.
Like the Sixakeni family in Mossel Bay, the Mqokozos are also raising funds to repatriate their relative from China for burial in the country.
“We need R300 000 to bring her mortal remains to her place of birth in Lady Free, Eastern Cape,” she said.
Teaching abroad has become attractive to many South African who struggle with employment in the country.
The latest unemployment statistics show that youth remain vulnerable in the labour market. The second quarter of 2022 saw the total number of unemployed youth (aged 15-34) increase by 2.0% (or 92 000) to 4.8 million from Q1:2022.
“There was a noticeable increase of 7.2% or 370 000 in the number of employed youth during the same period,” said Statistics South Africa.
Nokubonga Paul, who had a stint in China and also taught English, said a foreign country can be lonely.
“You are easy to notice because of your skin colour and it is important to keep in touch with the embassy even when you change cities. I have seen the news about the deaths and it is worrying that so many women have died in mysterious ways,” Paul said.
Dirco’s Monyela said the country does not have a budget to repatriate people from foreign countries.
“When someone dies overseas, the department cannot offer monetary assistance.
“Every government, including South Africa, offers what we call consular services for its citizens abroad when they are in distress, and the word distress would cover any situations where nationals from our country need help from our embassy,” he said.
He said, for instance, if a citizen travels abroad and is arrested, the embassy would request to see them in jail, check what they are charged with, as well as if they are being treated well.
“The consular services provided by the government through our embassies are non-financial and that is the policy of the South African government. We advise people to have travel insurance, which is offered by most banks as well as travel agencies,” he said.