Have Mihlali Ndamase and FlySafair reached an agreement?

Social media influencer Mihlali Ndamase and FlySafair talk about the alleged racial slur that took place on Sunday evening. Picture: Instagram.

Social media influencer Mihlali Ndamase and FlySafair talk about the alleged racial slur that took place on Sunday evening. Picture: Instagram.

Published May 15, 2019

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Social media influencer Mihlali Ndamase who slammed SA airline FlySafair for alleged racial abuse may have reached an agreement with the airline.

In a recent statement by FlySafair, the airline said they met with Ndamase to discuss the incident.

In a since-deleted post on Instagram, Ndamase claimed that she and her friends were called animals by the staff for being loud on a flight on Sunday evening.

She said police were called to escort them out of the flight when it landed.

She said: “My friends and I were called animals by these people on @flysafairza because we were being “loud” on the flight. I didn’t know it was against the law to speak on a flight, I mean if you have an issue with hearing black people’s voices buy a private jet 🤷🏽‍♀️

“I can’t believe we have to deal with such treatment in 2019 for being black, I’m so disappointed. Please hire EDUCATED, TRAINED staff. I can’t spend my money on a flight only to be treated like someone who’s not supposed to be on the airline, because of the colour of my skin.”  (sic)

The issue was sorted between the makeup artist and the airline by late Tuesday afternoon.

The statement from the airline states: “Mihlali and FlySafair have come together to discuss the events on Sunday night’s incident in great detail. It was identified that there were some unfortunate misunderstandings on both sides, but both parties are in agreement that discrimination, is an issue that we as South Africans need to continue to eradicate in order to build our future.

“The parties discussed the complexities of discrimination which can be explicit or implied, conscious or unconscious, deliberate or accidental, and agreed that there is a lot of work to be done in our country to bring attention to these nuances.

“Both also reached common ground on the fundamental importance of flawless aviation safety management and appropriate behaviour aboard an aircraft.”

Kirby Gordon, Head of Sales & Distribution expressed regret at the situation. “We want all of our customers to have an excellent experience aboard our aircraft and to feel safe in all regards.”

Neither Ndamase or FlySafair has said anything about the final outcome.

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