The South African delegation has at last disembarked from the plane that landed in Poland’s capital, Warsaw, on Thursday afternoon.
The SAA chartered flight was carrying President Cyril Ramaphosa’s security details and a media pack invited to cover the African peace mission to Ukraine and Russia.
Journalist Pieter Du Toit from News24 tweeted a few minutes ago: “We’ve disembarked, after another haranguing by Polish authorities.
“A South African SAPS [police] official, clearly frustrated after 26 hours holed up in the plane, telling the Poles: ‘Just because we’re from Africa doesn’t mean you can disrespect us.’ We’re going to the terminal.”
We’ve disembarked, after another haranguing by Polish authorities. A South African SAPS official, clearly frustrated after 26 hours holed up in the plane, telling the Poles: “Just because we’re from Africa doesn’t mean you can disrespect us.” We’re going to the terminal. @News24 pic.twitter.com/6xMiD8PVgh
— Pieter Du Toit (@PieterDuToit) June 16, 2023
Amanda Khoza from South Africa’s Sunday Times posted a video of people leaving the plane and boarding a bus, saying: “There is hope.”
[MUST WATCH] For the first time in more than 24 hours, we are finally off the plane. There is hope. @SundayTimesZA @TimesLIVE pic.twitter.com/kUqozyyRfz
— Amanda Khoza – The Journalist (@MandaKhoza) June 16, 2023
The Polish authorities had said the security team did not have the correct paperwork to bring weapons into the country.