Vanuatu Citizens

The briefing follows reports that the Gupta's were spotted in Switzerland when they were supposed to be in custody.

Minister Lamola says this already happened in February but South African authorities were only notified on Thursday.

He says they were also surprised to learn that the UAE considered the Gupta's to be residents of Vanuatu, an island in the South Pacific.

Jeffrey Markson's comments followed a report on French television that Vanuatu was selling passports for 130,000 euros.

The director claimed the report was false and said people couldn't buy their way to Vanuatu to try and flee Covid-19.

"Vanuatu is one of the countries that is Covid-free. To come to vanuatu we have all our border measures in place and there are strict border measures that we have in place and there is no such requirement that you can buy a passport to come to Vanuatu."

The National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) has confirmed that there are ongoing communications between officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and High Commissions and consulates to ensure Vanuatu nationals are looked after wherever they are.

NDMO Director Abraham Nasak said, “We have nationals throughout the globe including in the US, Europe and the Middle East and they are being looked after and are receiving help from the government.