South African teacher’s disappearance in Myanmar raises alarm after catastrophic quake

A South African teacher is missing in Myanmar following the deadly earthquake that claimed the lives of nearly 2000 people.

This was revealed by a fellow teacher based in Mandalay, the second biggest town in Myanmar.

On Friday, Myanmar was hit by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake, which was followed by an aftershock measuring a 6.4 magnitude. On Monday it was reported that the death toll had surpassed 2000.

Smangele Motloung, an English teacher at King’s Valley International School (KVIS), which is a Cambridge International Affiliate and a British Council Partnered school, said they have grouped themselves in Mandalay, a town that was hardest hit by the earthquake.

Motloung said they survived the catastrophic event; however, they were worried as they could not find one of the teachers.

“There are four South Africans (including myself) that I know of so far here in Mandalay, but one cannot be reached. She works at HCIS (Higher Champs International School),” Motloung said. 

The other teachers are Nosipho and Sibonelo, who both work at the Mandalay International Science Academy, also known as MISA.

The missing teacher’s name is withheld as authorities are still trying to find out what happened to her, and her family has not been notified that she cannot be located.

On Sunday, Chrispin Phiri, Spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) said the government has sent its ambassador to Thailand, Darkey Ephraim Africa, to assist the country’s citizens who may be stuck in Myanmar following an earthquake.

However, by Monday afternoon, Motloung said they had not received any assistance.

“We could use any aid from our embassy, other foreign nationals are receiving aid from their embassies only us South Africans are not,” she said.

Phiri said that engaging the Myanmar government and processing the information about South Africans who may be affected by the earthquake is complicated because Myanmar is a state that they do not recognise, as its government is a military junta. 

He added that they are relying on Thailand authorities to tell them anything that’s happening and on South Africans themselves to notify authorities that they are in Thailand.

On Monday, Phiri said an assessment is still ongoing.

“At the moment, we have information trickling in about one or two people who have not been able to locate their relatives. And we have requested our mission to verify this information,” he said. 

He added that the government is now awaiting feedback from the ambassador.

Myanmar, located in the western portion of mainland Southeast Asia and bordered by China to the north and northeast and Thailand to the southeast, is one of Asia’s poorest nations, owing to the effects of a civil war that erupted following a military coup in 2021.

Myanmar, officially known as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, is a unitary assembly-independent presidential republic under its 2008 constitution, although it has been under military rule since a coup in 2021.

Cape Times