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Statement on Missing South Africans in South East Asia South
African Ambassador to Thailand, Buyi Pheto has now confirmed that the official
number of missing South Africans in Thailand now stands at 14. In India two South
Africans are still reported missing. Accordingly Ambassador Pheto has now
requested the assistance of the South African Department of Home Affairs in securing
photographs of the missing persons with a view to relay to the Thailand authorities
including publicising them widely in Thailand. Ambassador Pheto and her
team have over the past few days visited Phuket, Phi Phi and Krabi islands' hospitals,
mortuaries, centres for displaced persons as part of efforts to trace the missing
South Africans. A number of challenges have also arisen in dealing with
the issue of tracing missing persons. In this regard, the Department of Foreign
Affairs has come to the realisation that some South Africans visited Thailand
before the disaster and subsequently left for other destinations without being
in touch with their relatives in South Africa. A second category consists
of those South Africans who had been in Thailand during the disaster but had subsequently
left of their own accord but had equally not advised their relatives in South
Africa. Consequently, family members report such relatives as missing persons
and thus leading to the inflation of the number of missing South Africans. The
Government requests those families that may now have had contact with such relatives
to advise the Department of Foreign Affairs accordingly. PUBLIC APPEAL FOR
RELIEF ASSISTANCE The South African Government has now received three official
requests from the Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia for relief assistance. In
the spirit of the commitment made by President Thabo Mbeki, that South Africa
stands ready and willing to assist within the limited resources available at its
disposal, the government reiterates its public appeal to relief organisations
within South Africa to join it in a partnership to lend a hand in bringing relief
to the people of Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia. The South African Government
has thus established a co-ordinating centre at Foreign Affairs in Pretoria for
this purpose. The contact officials remain Johan van Wyk and Johan Pasqual at
084-514-7094 and 073-332-0842 alternatively (012) 351-1520/1466. Issued
by Ronnie Mamoepa at 082-990-4853 Department of Foreign Affairs
P/Bag
X152
Pretoria
0001
30 December 2004
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