By Dasen Thathiah
After being accused of being a drug mule, strip-searched and whisked off for X-rays only minutes after landing in South Africa for the first time, an Argentinian woman is dubious about the country's ability to welcome tourists in 2010.
And after the police unceremoniously dumped her back at the airport, she then had an airport official extort a bribe from her to help her buy another ticket to Durban.
Paula Martinez, 48, had arrived at OR Tambo Airport from Buenos Aires on Thursday, to visit her sister, Claudia Martinez-Mullen.
| 'I had to take my clothes off before they took an x-ray of my abdomen' |
Martinez said she could not think of any reason why she was singled out, and had never been on the wrong side of the law.
She said she was a "correct, serious woman of 48 years", who had come on holiday to visit her sister, when the airport police "without any proof, violated all my rights".
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Minutes after getting off the plane and unable to communicate in English, she approached a police officer for help to find domestic departures to catch her next flight.
Martinez said the police officer ignored her request but instead asked to see her passport.
"After waiting a while, she signalled to me to follow her. She pushed me into an office where she started to search my luggage and touch my body; she even broke one of my bags," Martinez said.
| 'All my rights have been violated' |
She claimed the female police officer slapped her hands when Martinez tried to arrange her clothing in one of the bags.
A Spanish-speaking woman walking past noticed what was going on and approached to offer help.
"She spoke with the police and told me that I was arrested for carrying drugs; they told me that I was a drug dealer.
"She told me they would send me to the hospital to check if I was hiding drugs in my body," she said.
Panic-stricken, she was shuffled into a police vehicle before being taken to a nearby hospital.
"They made me sign papers and took me to the emergency room. I had to take my clothes off before they took an x-ray of my abdomen. Of course, the x-ray was negative, so after that, they took me back to the airport and just left me there," Martinez said.
Still reeling from her ordeal, she found that she had missed her 11am flight and approached an airport employee for help.
"He helped me in exchange for $100 and, on top of that, I needed to buy a new ticket to Durban," Martinez said.
"All my rights have been violated. They did not provide me with a translator, did not allow me to use the telephone and did not offer me a lawyer or even apologise. They made me feel like a delinquent.
"This really puts SA in a bad light. I don't feel welcome here."
Martinez said many Argentinians would flock to the country next year, but she feared they would be subjected to similar treatment.
"If I went through this, how is this country going to cater for tourists in 2010?" she asked.
Martinez-Mullen, a sociology lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, was due to contact the Argentinian Embassy on Thursday to inform them of the matter.
She is seeking urgent legal advice on the issue as Martinez is due to return to Argentina in mid-November.
"When Paula finally arrived in Durban, she was in tears. She is meant to be here on a holiday, but she hasn't even left my flat alone since she arrived because she is too scared," she said.
Acsa referred queries to the police, who had not responded by the time of going to press.
- This article was originally published on page 1 of Daily News on October 29, 2009
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