WATCH: South African in Ukraine – ‘We are alive because of our countrymen, not government’
A South African attempting to flee the war in Ukraine has lauded the spirit of Ubuntu displayed by other South Africans for saving his life.
Johan Nel was caught in the deadly violence between Russia and Ukraine.
The 25-year-old, from Strand in the Western Cape, says he woke up to air raid sirens – and moments later “a bomb fell about 500 meters from my apartment”.
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The English teacher travelled to the Polish border after paying about $1 000 for a private taxi.
However, when he arrived, he was told that only Ukrainian women and children were allowed to cross.
Nel deciding to head back to Lviv in an attempt to cross the Hungarian or Slovakian border.
“I hitch-hiked and some ex-military people from Poland gave me a ride,” he told Jacaranda FM News.
Train and bus stations were filled to the brim – and this led him to seek the help of another private taxi and a bus travelling to the Slovakian border.
“I tore my left hamstring with blisters all over my feet after walking for several dozen kilometers.
“The people of Slovakia accepted us with love and there was food everywhere, they gave us warm clothes.”
He has since made it to Budapest where he is staying with a South African man married to a Ukrainian woman.
The teenager says he will not return to South Africa but will continue his bid to secure a work visa.
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Nel says it was not due to the help of the national government that he made it to a place of safety, but due to ordinary South Africans coming together to help their fellow countrymen.
“South Africans citizens coming together, organisations on WhatsApp groups assisting citizens to evacuate. The embassies of different countries and ambassadors helped us. But the government did sweet-all-nothing.”
At the same time he has lauded the South African Ambassador to Ukraine André Groenewald for the practical advice he had given.
But for the rest of government, Nel said it was a dead-end.
Nel believes the national government should have sent chartered aircraft to rescue South Africans.
The Department of International Relations has defended government’s handling of the evacuation process.
“Of course there are people who are unhappy, but they must understand this is a country experiencing armed conflict and we are doing our best,” said spokesperson Clayson Monyela.