rumours on social media” that she died of Covid-19.
“The family can confirm that Ms Ntshane succumbed to cancer-related complications in a Pretoria hospital on Sunday. She is survived by her son and mother,” family spokesperson Elias Mazibila said on Tuesday.
“She was part of the SAA crew members that willingly participated in Operation Ditaba, an operation that was led by the South African National Defence Force in cooperation with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation in May 2020 to Wuhan province, China.”
Mazibila reminded the public to “cease spreading fake news” related to Covid-19, as this is an offence prosecutable under the South African Disaster Management Act.
“The Ntshane family appeals to the public to allow the family to mourn their daughter and request that she be accorded the respect she deserves for serving her country diligently when she was called upon to do so.”
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A Facebook post claimed that Ntshane was a “female pilot from Atteridgeville who fetched S. Africans from China (sic)”, stating that she had died of Covid-19.
A screengrab of the posted was retweeted several times on Twitter since Monday, leading to a trend on Twitter by Tuesday morning.
SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali told News24: “We mourn the loss of life of our colleague, Nakedi Tebatso Ntshane, who passed on last Sunday morning after a short illness. She was employed at SAA as a cabin crew member and was training towards becoming a commercial pilot.
“We find it unfortunate and insensitive that some individuals made it their business to spread false information about the cause of Tebatso’s death. Claims that she died from Covid-19-related complications are untrue as they are not clinically and medically supported.”
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Tlali said the SAA medical department confirmed that the airline had no Covid-19-related deaths, be it crew or employees in other disciplines.
“We are appalled that the distribution of this false information was in total disregard of privacy and respect towards the family and the deceased,” Tlali said.
