Cape Town - South African doctor Cyril Karabus boarded a plane for South Africa without incident on Friday morning, SABC news reported.
“He is on the aeroplane. We received an SMS from him as he boarded the aeroplane.... He is going to land in Cape Town at about 11.45 this morning,” his lawyer Michael Bagraim told the broadcaster.
Karabus cleared passport control at 2am, according to an SMS sent to Bagraim by the South African Consul.
The 78-year-old paediatric oncologist has been detained in the United Arab Emirates since August 18, after being sentenced in absentia for the death of a Yemeni girl he treated for leukaemia in 2002.
Karabus was acquitted on March 21, and won a subsequent appeal. His return to South Africa was delayed because he was on the UAE's database as a fugitive from justice.
Karabus then needed to get his passport back from the relevant authorities, but there were administrative delays.
He received his passport on Tuesday afternoon, but his visa had the incorrect date of entry to the UAE, which would make it appear as if he had stayed in the country illegally for a period of time.
Karabus would be welcomed at Cape Town International Airport by International Relations Deputy Minister Marius Fransman.
A briefing would be held at the airport at noon. - Sapa