Minister heard yelling k-word

2012-04-01 09:34

Carien du Plessis and Mandy Rossouw, Rapport

Cape Town - Lulu Xingwana, Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, shocked fellow passengers on an SAA flight when she swore at cabin crew and used the k-word.

She was furious because SAA crew wouldn’t upgrade her ticket from economy class to business class on the Thursday night flight from Accra in Ghana to Johannesburg.

A fellow passenger said he saw how Xingwana yelled at a white air hostess: “Shut up! Shut up! Is it because I’m a kaffir?”

Business class was apparently full.

When the air hostess tried to calm her down, Xingwana apparently said: “But I’m a stakeholder in this company.”

She was offered a seat in the front row of economy class.

“The minister was like a naughty child. She put her bag on her lap with her arms around it,” said the fellow passenger.

“I was shocked and embarrassed. It is a national minister.”

SAA spokesperson Dilesang Koetle confirmed the incident and apologised for being unable to upgrade the minister.

Xingwana’s spokesperson Cornelius Tanana Monama denied that the minister had yelled at anyone and denied that she had used the k-word.

He also said she never said anything about being an SAA stakeholder.

He said she had politely requested to be upgraded and had been shocked by the rude and disrespectful behaviour of the SAA staff member.

 

- Rapport