Dear Minister

I'd like to encourage a conversation about the issue of families separated by the lock down in the country. I fully support our government's incredible initial response and clear messaging, and have isolated and accepted the need to be separated from my family for a while.
Last year we moved to Oxford for a few years when my husband was offered an amazing opportunity to work in the Department of International Development at Oxford University. He has a British passport, my son and I are on family visas. I was in South Africa when the lock down happened and my flight back was cancelled. I didn't take up the 'repatriation' flight arranged by the UK High Commission partly because I couldn't afford it - not on top of the two other tickets I'd purchased in haste and which I'm pushing out each time they are cancelled. But mainly because I felt at the time, that it was my civic responsibility to stay put and it wasn't absolutely essential, at that time, that I travel. I'm privileged enough to be safe and to have been taken in by relatives. So the chance of ‘repatriation’ has come and gone.

Now as the reality sets in that it will be many months - even a year potentially? before level 1 is achieved here, which means that I'm not able to see my 15 year old son for so long, I’m really wondering about the decisions I made. And there are many families all over the country in this position - what if I happened to be in Johannesburg and I'd left two small children with neighbours for a few days in Mpumalanga. Is it my human right to be able to get back to them even though I'm crossing a provincial border?

I know this issue ranks lower than getting people food, reducing transmission and helping equip hospitals. But it's not insignificant for those of us in the situation.

In hindsight I've realised possibly I shouldn't have been so passively accepting of the situation. I should have rushed to the airport the day after lockdown was announced. But it wasn’t communicated that there was a short window between that Monday night and the Thursday. And a crowd of people clambering to travel is the last thing we needed. I'm sure not even government knew on day one of lock down that international flights and inter provincial travel would not be possible for so many months; level one looks (optimistically) as though it could happen in six to eight months time only. I can’t believe I didn’t anticipate that it would be impossible to go back to the UK until then.

I think it's important that a distinction starts to be made between 'essential/humanitarian' travel, versus holiday or even business travel. Careful, planned reunification of families. Perhaps in the empty vehicles or flights that have delivered cargo and supplies between provinces and countries?

Please don’t forget us and our right to be reunited with family and minor children. This is an important issue for so many of us.

Many thanks

Bonny Jennings