3 August 2006
I refer to the article, âMinister Hijacks SAA seat and causes a sceneâ (The
Mail & Guardian, 28 July 2006).
The article referred to above makes serious insinuations that border on
character assassination, disrespect for the truth and blatant defamation.
With much gusto and relish to tarnish the Minister of Agriculture and Land
Affairsâ image, the reporter Yolandi Groenewald reported that the Minister
âmuscled a South African Airways (SAA) passenger off her business class seatâ.
She went on to state that the Minister âstormedâ through the boarding gate and
âhijackedâ seat 1F when she discovered that she had been removed from flight SA
570 from Durban to Johannesburg.
Had the reporter bothered to check with the Minister if indeed she wanted to
write a balanced and accurate version of what transpired she would have found
out that the Minister was never ârudeâ to the flight captain and said
passenger. In fact it is on record that the Minister fully co-operated when the
captain requested that she step outside the plane to discuss the matter out of
sight and hearing of the rest of the passengers. This in itself smacks of
gutter sensationalism and embellishment of the truth for the sake of selling
newspapers and is unacceptable.
On 18 July 2006 the Ministerâs office received an e-mailed letter of apology
from the company CEOâs office. This Minister accepted graciously as a sincere
apology from SAA. SAA expressed regret that the Minister was âerroneously
offloadedâ and that disciplinary action has been taken against the staff member
concerned for âfailing to perform his/her duties accordinglyâ.
Imagine the Ministerâs shock and dismay when it was reported thereafter that
an SAA flight report was handed to the Mail & Guardian. This shows clearly
that whoever was responsible was on an agenda to destroy the Ministerâs image
in the publicâs eye. If a Minister of government can be treated this way, it is
scary to imagine what fate has already befallen ordinary passengers.
This is not the first time the Minister has been treated unfairly by SAA.
She was once bumped off the plane whilst on her way to a speaking engagement.
As she waited in the VIP lounge to be escorted to the plane, she was told that
the plane had left. During her recent official trip to Geneva her luggage was
left in Johannesburg International Airport and she was informed the luggage
will follow with the next plane. She never got her luggage until the fourth day
just before flying back home. Her personal assistantâs luggage was delivered to
Pretoria a week after her return.
Contact:
Steve Galane
Head of Communication
Tel: (012) 319 7312
Cell: 083 635 7346
Issued by: Department of Agriculture
3 August 2006
