LISTEN | ‘How I escaped heavy gunfire in frightening Sudan conflict’

One of the 77 South Africans who have been stranded in Sudanese capital city has told of her last harrowing moments before the group was evacuated from war-torn Khartoum yesterday.

Sharon Dreyer, a teacher who was among those who were trapped at Al Salam Hotel for days due to the armed conflict in Khartoum, told of their trauma and panic before they were rescued by a Sudanese bus driver who was dropping off Turkish citizens.

The conflict, which started on April 15, between the Sudanese army and paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has claimed the hundreds of lives of hundreds of people.

Yesterday, department of international relations and cooperation head of public diplomacy Clayson Monyela said the South Africans, including and embassy staff, stranded were being evacuated.

In a series of voicenotes she shared with Sowetan yesterday, Dreyer described the situation as “crazy” and frightening.

“We saw people leaving Sudan while we were passing by the bus station. We got lost while driving, did not know where we were. We finally got to the end of the road. I really thought we would never get out of the hotel today (Monday). The shooting outside the hotel is crazy. I am happy I am on my way out of Sudan,” she said in her message.

Dreyes said she has been a teacher for 42 years, 17 of which she spend in the Middle-East and five in Sudan.

“Last night (Sunday) we got a message from the group that today we are being evacuated and we should be at a compound. We could not find a driver the whole morning, and the compound is five minuets away from the hotel. We could not walk there because of the shooting outside.

“By God’s grace, we managed to find a driver who was dropping off some Turkish people at the hotel. We convinced the driver to take us because there was so much shooting in front of the hotel. We had to wait a little bit...”

Dreyer said along the road, they were stopped by the Sudanese army who asked who they were and after the driver told them he was transporting foreigners, they were allowed to go.

“The driver got lost and while driving there were gun shots going over our heads. We were so nervous and tried to keep calm. We were later stopped by RSF soldiers who also allowed us to go.” said Dreyer.

“We are now on the outskirts of Sudan, near the countryside. The people this side are not even aware that there is a war in Khartoum. There shops open and people continuing life as normal. In Khartoum the buildings were destroyed. It is extremely sad.

“When I got into the bus I started crying. I was crying because although I was being evacuated, we still had to go through a detour and there was shooting over my head. It such a relief I got away from the shooting,” said Dreyer.

"All hell broke lose on Saturday... I can't speak properly to you because the road is really bad. I think we are going to Egypt but it's a long drive to get to the border. It can take 13 to 15 hours because there are some security stops by the army."

She said this was the fourth time she had been stuck in Sudan since she arrived in 2018. The first was in December 2018 during the ousting of former president Omar Al-Bashir. The second time was during Covid in 2020 and the third was in 2021.

"In 2021 I had another experience in Sudan it was the 25th of October, I was at school that morning , I did not know what was going on. I'm the principal of the school and usually I go in early because I have to do my admin. I was busy on the computer and I was wondering what happened to my Sudanese staff especially my secretary, she was just not there. At around 7:30am I tried to send a message to her and realised I had no data. At around 7:20am my other South African colleague came in and we wondered what was going on , as we had no network.

"As we were standing and chatting, my director came in and said please get out of here, because there's a military coup."

Monyela said he would not disclose where the South Africans were being taken.

“Latest update re: evacuation of SA nationals in #Sudan. Our nationals and embassy staff are on their way out of #Khartoum. I can’t disclose the security and logistics of the operation but they are moving out. We are in constant contact with them,” he said.

“Our people are en route and moving out of Sudan, this includes South Africans and embassy staff who were stranded. We have been able to mount an operation that is currently underway. They are in motion and moving out of Sudan.

“Some South Africans found a way into an area that is out of Sudan. I think they got too desperate and decided to venture into moving out... “They are few, around three or four and managed to get help from other European countries who were providing assistance.”

kokam@sowetan.co.za