275 South Africans repatriated from US, hundreds more to arrive this week
Berlein said she was frustrated; she wanted to return home because she had been away for too long.
“I am desperate to get home. I haven’t been home in three months. And everything is very expensive here. We are staying at other people’s houses; although it’s comfortable and they have been great, nothing is compared to home.
“I’m also supposed to be on chronic medication, which I can’t get here. So I really need to get home,” she told News24.
‘I am here, I am so young and I am here alone’
After not giving up and sending multiple emails to SAA, the consulate and her travel agent, Berlein said she eventually received an email attached with her ticket on Monday night.
She is expected to be on the repatriation flight departing on Saturday, 9 May.
But for 19-year-old student from Johannesburg, Khanyisile Mgquba, and Shanell Hossack, from Victoria Bay outside George, they are still waiting for their confirmation and tickets.
They were also among the group at the airport at the weekend, trying get on the SA-bound flights. But it was the same story as their names did not appear on the list.
Mgquba said, after failing to get on the flight, they were then taken to a hotel on the embassy’s bill.
“They only needed to pay for five rooms because everyone else said they could pay for themselves. I am sharing with my roommate because we travelled here together.”
Mgquba said she was frustrated because their hopes kept being raised, but they were never able to get on any of the flights.
She said they had been receiving conflicting information from the airline and the embassy, with one blaming the other.
“It feels frustrating, the fact that I am here, I am so young and I am here alone, is quite scary,” the 19-year-old said.
Hossack, who travelled to Los Angeles in March to visit her daughter, said it was the same story for her as she struggled to get a ticket from SAA.
Anxiety and devastation
The 58-year-old said she had paid for the flight, but was also experiencing difficulty in getting on board. She said she had been told she was on the list, but when she arrived at the airport her name was not on it.
Hossack also reiterated how they continuously tried their luck, swiping their passports at check-in desks to see if their tickets were processed on Sunday night.
She said, while others were having better luck and getting tickets, for others, including her, it was a different story.
At some point, Hossack said she was in tears because she knew she was not going to make it on the plane, even though they were told there were vacant seats.
“It looked like it was clearly inefficiency from SAA’s side because they didn’t get tickets through in time, and this I cannot understand because I was on the list but I couldn’t get a ticket,” she said.
Hossack said the events have left her devastated and traumatised.
She added that she was anxious because she still did not have a ticket for the flight departing on Saturday, 9 May, even though others had received their tickets.
“The anxiety and devastation of not being able to get on that plane have been unbelievable. I am still traumatised. It is such a bad experience,” she said.
Hossack said all she wanted was to go home to be with her husband. She said he is also devastated because she has been away for almost two months when she was meant to be away for two weeks.
“It’s really changed me forever. It’s a hard experience to go through,” she said.
Reasons for cancellation
In a reply to News24, SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said there were various reasons for flight cancellations, ranging from lack of details received and payments not reaching the airline’s bank in time.
He said other reasons for cancellations were that some passengers were registering with the airline, instead of the embassy.
“A Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) approved name list is sent to SAA with proof of payment. SAA would thereafter verify that payment has been received (in our bank account). We would then issue a ticket only after the payment has been confirmed,” Tlali said.
He said while there was another planned repatriation flight for 9 May from Washington DC, he could not confirm how many passengers would be on the plane because they were waiting for a list from the embassy.
Tlali added that it would “most likely be capacity full flight”.
The airline has urged that passengers should not deposit money into its bank account when they had not followed the registration processes through Dirco – this was to ensure they were on the approved lists.
