NINETEEN Eastern Cape aviation tourists are flying home in their 12 small planes after a hostile reception in Namibia.
In an ordeal which had embassy and consular staff working round the clock, the group were held for five days at Ondangwa airport by armed security forces.
They will be heading for the South African border this morning .
An SMS late last night stated: “Much better! All fine to get to Upington tomorrow.”
The group were accused of having no flyover or landing papers, despite protesting that they went through the proper civil aviation channels.
They were on a 16-day flying tourism adventure while also raising money for Cansa.
On landing at Ondangwa on Saturday night, the planes were searched and all 12 pilots loaded into a van and jailed in a filthy cell.
On Sunday, an Oshakati court ordered their release, and on Monday they paid admission-of-guilt fines of R400 per pilot (R4800).
The group felt their arrest was political and that the security forces were in a “volatile” mood right until takeoff at noon yesterday.
Prior to agreeing to maintain public silence, the group linked their rough treatment to landing on Cassinga Massacre commemoration day.
A Namibian newspaper this week reported Oshana police commander Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa saying Namibians commemorating the massacre were terrified by so many aeroplanes flying at once over the area and alerted the police and military.
“Some people thought it was another attack similar to that of Cassinga,” Kashihakumwa said.
On May 4 1978 the SADF first bombed the Swapo military and civilian base in Angola from the air, and then attacked from the ground with armoured divisions and an entire paratroop battalion.
Of the 600 who died, 167 were women and 298 were teenagers and children, according to the Angolan government.
Department of International Relations and Co-operation spokesman Clayson Monyela confirmed that the group had been allowed to leave Ondangwa.
DA MP and international relations spokesman Ian Davidson, who contacted the department, said: “It is difficult for a government to interfere in the judicial system of another government. But two more charges raised have fallen away.”
Leader of the DA in the Eastern Cape legislature Bobby Stevenson said: “This has been a terrible ordeal for the pilots and their families back home. Bureaucracy can be brutal, especially when there is no regard for the plight of individuals and their loved ones.” –
EC aviators free after Namibian jail ordeal
In an ordeal which had embassy and consular staff working round the clock, the group were held for five days at Ondangwa airport by armed security forces.
They will be heading for the South African border this morning .
An SMS late last night stated: “Much better! All fine to get to Upington tomorrow.”
The group were accused of having no flyover or landing papers, despite protesting that they went through the proper civil aviation channels.
They were on a 16-day flying tourism adventure while also raising money for Cansa.
On landing at Ondangwa on Saturday night, the planes were searched and all 12 pilots loaded into a van and jailed in a filthy cell.
On Sunday, an Oshakati court ordered their release, and on Monday they paid admission-of-guilt fines of R400 per pilot (R4800).
The group felt their arrest was political and that the security forces were in a “volatile” mood right until takeoff at noon yesterday.
Prior to agreeing to maintain public silence, the group linked their rough treatment to landing on Cassinga Massacre commemoration day.
A Namibian newspaper this week reported Oshana police commander Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa saying Namibians commemorating the massacre were terrified by so many aeroplanes flying at once over the area and alerted the police and military.
“Some people thought it was another attack similar to that of Cassinga,” Kashihakumwa said.
On May 4 1978 the SADF first bombed the Swapo military and civilian base in Angola from the air, and then attacked from the ground with armoured divisions and an entire paratroop battalion.
Of the 600 who died, 167 were women and 298 were teenagers and children, according to the Angolan government.
Department of International Relations and Co-operation spokesman Clayson Monyela confirmed that the group had been allowed to leave Ondangwa.
DA MP and international relations spokesman Ian Davidson, who contacted the department, said: “It is difficult for a government to interfere in the judicial system of another government. But two more charges raised have fallen away.”
Leader of the DA in the Eastern Cape legislature Bobby Stevenson said: “This has been a terrible ordeal for the pilots and their families back home. Bureaucracy can be brutal, especially when there is no regard for the plight of individuals and their loved ones.” –
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