Malcolm Marx was also stuck on the flight, OFM reported.
Passenger Clinton Collard had flown from Kuwait to Doha and arrived after 15:00 on Monday to take the repatriation flight.
He said according to documents from Dirco, which News24 has seen, the flight was confirmed.
Collard added before they could embark, things seemed to run smoothly as they were checked by medical staff. However, things took a turn for the worse when the plane taxied down the runway and they had to stay on board it for almost an hour.
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He added the captain then informed them they had to turn around because the airline’s operations team had advised them it was unsafe to sit in the aircraft as it did not have permission to land in South Africa.
“It’s really boggling my mind if we have documents from Dirco that proves that there is permission for us to land, especially for these six repatriation flights and now all of a sudden we can’t land.
“I just got confirmation about the five remaining flights from Kuwait to Doha from Doha to Johannesburg have been cancelled. Nobody knows what is going on,” Collard said.
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He added everything was confirmed on their side until the plane made a U-turn.
The communiqué, dated 2 May, from the South African Embassy in Doha, said it was pleased to announce after extensive engagements between it and Qatar Airways as well as the South African government, the airline would be repatriating many citizens who had been stranded from across the world.
Collard has been working in Kuwait for four years and decided to return back home to his wife and two children because of the pandemic which has resulted in his projects being halted and him receiving no income.
“A lot of people on this flight are in the same situation. Everybody lost their jobs, projects have stopped, contracts have been stopped, there is no more income and the people just want to get home to their families.”
Stranded passengers make the best of their situation at the airport. Image: Supplied
On Wednesday morning, the mother of another passenger told News24 that her son had informed her that he and the other stranded passengers were preparing to board the aircraft and would be landing in South Africa on Wednesday evening. She confirmed that the reason given for the delay was that suitable quarantine facilities were not immediately available.
