First group of German tourist to be repatriated
The German government will begin repatriating its citizens with the aid of South African Airways (SAA) on from Friday.
The tourists have been stranded in South Africa since the implementation of the national lockdown due to coronavirus.
"We have just received information from the South African government that our first planned repatriation flight from tomorrow night - both from Cape Town and Johannesburg - have been approved,” said German Ambassador Martin Schäfer.
"We have all our ducks in a row. The first group of more than 600 tourists who have come to view your beautiful country and the friendliness of your people will be able to return safely and securely back home."
ALSO READ: WATCH LIVE: Govt speaks on revised lockdown regulations
Schäfer says the German government will also be repatriating tourists from other European countries.
"This is an initiative by the German Federal Government, but we in Europe consider ourselves to be a community.
"So we already had assistance in place, where our colleagues from other European embassies have the chance to feed in people of which they think they must go home too."
Schäfer says there will be a lot of flights with European tourists leaving the country.