Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
A NORTHERN IRELAND businessman says he has been denied entry to South Africa because he is deemed as “high risk” in terms of coronavirus.
James Hagan, from Ballyclare, said he has been left “stranded” on the tarmac at Lanseria International Airport, Johannesburg, for the last 36 hours.
The Hagan Homes owner said he and his wife Anne were denied entry to South Africa due to “newly introduced visa restrictions” over the Covid-19 infection.
He has claimed they are being held airside and left to sleep in a vehicle overnight.
The couple had been travelling in Zimbabwe and flew to the airport yesterday on a private charter flight.
They are due to fly home from Cape Town on Sunday on a commercial flight.
Hagan said he and his wife had completed all the necessary health screening forms and waited 27 hours to get the required flight permit to land in Lanseria.
However he said upon arrival at the airport, they were refused entry and told they were deemed to be “high risk”.
Hagan claimed they were “kept in an interview room for several hours on arrival”.
He said he has been in contact with the local British Embassy.
“I have been here for 36 hours and this is the bed I am sleeping in,” he said, motioning towards a van in a video he sent to media outlets from the tarmac.
“We’re allowed into the building to go to the toilet and nothing else.
“One of the handling agents was good enough to lend us the Volkswagen to sleep in. It is madness.”
Hagan said they cannot leave the airport in the plane they came in because their entry to South Africa has been refused.
He added that his wife Anne is a nurse who wants to help with the coronavirus crisis in the UK. She has previously managed a specialist respiratory clinic.
This trip was described as a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to celebrate Anne’s 60th birthday, but the couple say it has now turned in to a “living nightmare”.
The Foreign Office and the airport have been contacted for a response.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
What does he want? Special rules to apply to him?
@Sean Ryan: looks like it alright. Beats me why they travelled during these uncertain times in the first place!
@Pauline Mulvey: they were already travelling they were trying to get home
@Pauline Mulvey: when did they fly out and surely they must know the rapidly daily changing world since early Jan.
@Sean Ryan: no.. But a proper quarantine room would be the least I’d expect. You can’t leave people on the tarmac of an airport They should be allowed fly back to zimbabwe.
@Patricia O’Reilly: have you ever been to Africa? There’s Not exactly a huge amount of resources available
@Radek: great input. Thanks.
@Mary Downes Montcho: depends what city
@Sean Ryan: you’re obviously a very loving compassionate human being.
One of my cousins has the same kind of rich mans dilemma, except he’s trapped on his yacht in Nice and can’t get a flight out, he actually believes he’s some kind of hero…pleb of the sea I say
@Pat Corrigan: jealousy is a terrible trait.
@Patricia O’Reilly: I could decided if it was jealousy or bragging.
@Pat Corrigan: are we related?
What did they expect? Literally every country in the world has made restrictions in allowing people in/out of the country so what’s so special about him that he should be allowed to go where ever he wants? Sit in your house and shut up, everyone else already did!
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: maybe you shouldn’t have been so quick to ask for college to close – you should try read the article again
@Dara O’Brien: already read the article. Maybe you should stop stalking my comments and replying to every one I make.. :)
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: really? Why did you say ‘sit in your house’ when he’s in a van in south Africa?
@Dara O’Brien: you’re a slow one aren’t ya?? Maybe you should go back and read my comment and try and understand, like everyone to like my comment did! It’s so simple, only requires a couple of brain cells :)
Anyways, here’s what I meant:
Sit in your house – don’t travel, postpone your travels, change your travel dates, wait until this crisis is over, take care of your health, put your health and your loved ones’ health first, SIT YO A$$ HOME AND STOP TRAVELLING FOR THE TIME BEING.
They wouldn’t be in SA if they sat home in the first place.
Have a LOVELY night.
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: they were already travelling round Zimbabwe, they were trying to get home.
@LittleBee: I’m aware but it’s a matter of when they traveled to Zimbabwe. They could’ve well travelled 2/3 weeks ago, when the outbreak started in Ireland. So if that’s the case then they should take responsibility for their choices.
If that’s not the case though then hopefully they find a way home.
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: why ladies at the first replay they don’t like or agree with their own views, have to use the card : Stalking!
Come on!!
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: Ah, so your whole argument is premised on the important fact of when they travelled, which you left out of every post until now but people are supposed to somehow infer from ‘sit in your house’ …
Also, unless I’m mistaken, you also refused to ‘sit in your house’ even though you were ‘afraid for your life’ because your classes were still on?
Poor arguments and questionable judgement … like I said, maybe you shouldn’t have been so eager to have your studies cancelled.
Keep safe.
@Dara O’Brien: oh my good god LOL I don’t understand why you’re so upset that students have been told to sit home and get work done from home? It’s been a week, get over it.
And the fact you’ve somehow tried to bring studies and link it to traveling, is beyond me! Students are REQUIRED (in most colleges, mine would be one of them) to maintain a 75% attendance, I have already missed out on college for over two weeks due to an illness in my family which required me to take care of them (and miss out on college), so sitting home was not an option for me, especially when colleges and studies were going ahead, missing those 2 weeks meant I fail the year and repeat, due to my attendance %,
If you don’t know how colleges work, stop talking and don’t even bother replying if you’re gonna link
@Dara O’Brien: if you’re gonna link COLLEGE and getting an education to TRAVELLING when clearly all countries have made restrictions.
Just shut up and go do something with your time off, something other than trying to pick on college students, or students in general, for being told to stay home and study from home! Take your anger somewhere else.
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: except it doesn’t say when they went travelling, even if it was 2 to.3 weeks ago there was no restriction or advice to reduce travelling, back then. Africa has also only started to report cases recently. What’s really going on here is that you are more upset that he can afford to private charter a plane to try and get home safely. That my dear is called sour grapes.
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: you inferred it when you asked what’s so special about him that he deserves special treatment, like others you have no sympathy because he has a bit of cash, you jumped to the conclusion that he travelled without due care in the middle of a pandemic but you have no idea when he travelled. Travel restrictions have only been put in place in the last few days. Clearly you do care how anyone else travels or you wouldn’t be suggesting this man should just shut up and stay at home.
@LittleBee: Your comments are negative and based on very little knowledge of this mans story because well you just want to sit in your ivory tower and judge. If hes stuck in an airport while trying to get home hes allowed to feel scared or annoyed. If someone wants to go for a walk in Ireland and get a take away coffee they are allowed there is zero difference in terms of transmission between getting a take away coffee , filling your car or buying groceries as long as they practice social distancing. Do yourself a favour and get out for a walk yourself you really sound like you need it.
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: you don’t know when their trip started. No one expected countries to close. Its unprecedented..
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: haven’t you any pots to clean or cups of tea to make?
@LittleBee: so much negative energy.. hope things get better at home soon! X
@Rocky Rocks: nah that’s your mum’s job, her job was also to raise you right.. but look at you! Making sexist remarks. How adorable.
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: replying to people’s comments is called a conversation and what happens in a comment section. Horrible to accuse someone of stalking you.
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: horrible to imply someone is having troubles at home just because they dont agree with your statement. What makes u think that? Strange way to try and get one over on somebody tbh.
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: ha ha ha ha ha ha ha you talk about negative energy, yet all your posts are negative. Stop moaning, get off the journal and do some school work or go for a walk or look for some sort of silver lining in all this madness like that some people are being kind to each other, the canals in venice have cleared of pollution, kids are spending an amazing time being homeschooled which for some will be a memory that will stay with them forever. For every negative there is a counter positive, look for it. How about some kindness to this man who’s trying to get home, how about you start there.
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: I’ll reply to your comments and you can keep your insults to yourself as well. It’s only 9 days since this has become so serious. Anyone could have been anywhere in the world and got stuck trying to get home.
You’ve been watching too much Star Trek….. there’s no such thing as teleporting yet mate. No matter if you’re rich or poor there’s no getting home if you’re stuck in another country with this unprecedented Covid virus going on.
Now take those stones out of your hand, relax and stop being like Boris, Trump, Arleen and Mary Lou (although I suspect you voted for her with your whinging) and just thank god you live in Ireland.
Goodnight.
@Billymaze: you’ve literally just said what I’ve been saying all along. You tried though.
@LittleBee: how about you stop moaning over other people’s comments and go to “post comment” instead of “reply to”? How about you start there xo
@EillieEs: ain’t horrible if it’s the truth.
@Now or Never: again, not horrible if it’s the truth.
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: Hey like everyone else on here, just calling you out on your bullsh!t, get over it, and what Billymaze said…its absolutely not what you’ve been posting all along, that old bullsh!t radar is going again.
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: wow there is goes again, incredible. Yawn.
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: can’t you just accept you jumped to a conclusion for whatever reason and a lot of people didn’t like it. The fact you are getting your back up to the responses is a sure sign you don’t have a clue what your talking about
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: how long does the mute button last when enabled?
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: wow
@Charlie: good thing I don’t post my opinion for people to LIKE it.
@Chris O’ Connor: forever.
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi:are you even capable of making a decent cup of tea…Darling lol
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: Yeah not Ireland where are you living.
He contacted the British embassy so let them deal with him. As for his wife rushing to return to help fight the virus in the UK pull the other one its got bells on
They hired a private jet to bring them to South Africa 2 days ago in the middle of an international emergency…
Good luck to them trying to get back! We are closing the airspace in EU soon.
To me it sounds like the right thing is being done here
@Mark: I think it depends on one important fact which is omitted – when did they leave NI?
It says they had been travelling in Zimbabwe and his wife is a respiratory specialist nurse, trying to get back and help.
If they left the north 1 or 2 months ago then fair’s fair, they should be allowed into SA to get their flight back home.
If they flew out 1 or two weeks back then tough tittie
@Mark: what? leaving them outside without shelter? Some employee being kind enough to give them a car to sleep in. Sth Africa is a very violent country. They’ll be lucky if they are not attacked at night. Where do they get food?
@Patricia O’Reilly: They’re Airside in the Airport! Not out on the street FFS.
The experts have complained about false information on social media. They ahev also said this virus is not as infectious as the flu and you would need to be sitting beside someone coughing and spluttering for 5 or 6 minutes to get infected. They said transmission by touching a surface or your face is unlikely. Now given that we are all afraid if this virus globally nobody in their right mind would soend 5 minutes beside someone coughing and spluttering. So its my view given this virus has traversed the entire planet in 8 weeks is that it is very highly contageous. So complete avoidance of all human contact by staying at home is our only hope to slow it down. I think they call this a lockdown. Its my view that closing all non essential shops is one step away from a lockdown. I would prefer people to be able to go for a walk. I just dont want them stopping off for a coffee and muffin.
@Imagine !: agreed, if they want coffee and a muffin then that’s just another wonderful thing someone can practice at home, bake your own muffin and make your own coffee 100% less chance to get infected through handling cups and cutlery from strangers.
@Imagine !: That’s not true at all. This virus has been proven to be highly infectious
@Imagine !: I don’t know where you got your facts from because I’ve read weeks ago that experts claim this is highly contagious and that an influenza carrier on average will pass it onto 1.3 people while covid19 has been seen to be passed on to between 2 and 3 people so its twice as contagious
Why is recreational travel happening and then people are shocked when problems getting back and if the virus gets in to townships social distancing would not be possible . Again we all need to stop unnecessary travel and think of humanity and not self . Money paid for flights is just money . Life is precious and people are just not stepping up to put self second . We win or loose many needless lives in these next days depending on how we step up to the tack of us not me
@mary o dwyer: It doesn’t say when his trip began just that he was travelling in Zimbabwe. He could have left Ireland a month ago which would have been a very different situation.
Don’t you just love the Irish…we’re in this together, let’s support each other.lets help each other out…oh wait your mans loaded ah serves him right leave him on the tarmac. lol , I’ve seen such kindness and such typical Irish begrudgery this last week. Hopefully those that survive will come out of this as nicer humans.
@LittleBee: WELL SAID.
@LittleBee: He’s a British passport holder and has contacted the British embassy. He’s not Irish and obviously doesn’t identify as such.
Few bowls of bat soup should sort him out.
Isn’t it ironic, a man who owns many homes sleeps in a van, while the many who own no home sleep in vehicles………. moral of the story, we are all worth the same in this world even when we think we aren’t.
One unjust thing about this sinister virus is when it is “couriered” from overseas by the relatively rich and then transferred to older poor people who can scarcely make ends meet from pension day to pension day ( let alone afford to go overseas) and then when the result is fatal for them.
@Moorooka Mick: what are you on about. Are you actually suggesting old people dont travel. Do you know the average age of a cruise ship tourist, how much they cost and how many people were trapped at sea during this crisis?
@LittleBee: you’re really going off at everyone in the comment section. lol. :)
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: pot kettle black
Hope they’re kept in isolation when they get to Ireland for the 2 weeks
@Noel Patten: by the sounds of things they’d be happy with that.an obvious chance has been taken and its backfired badly.i could think of worse places in Johannesburg to get some kip.
White men have always thought that rules don’t apply to them when they travel to the continent of Africa, why would now be any different.
@Mirica: and if they were black? Eejit.
Can just imagine the woke outrage if this couple were black?
Probably one of the worst places in the world go be stranded during a pandemic Johannesburg.
Was watching BBC this morning some guy phoning from Cyprus saying he was stranded, probably a safer place to be…
@Paul O’Sullivan: Airside in an airport? Pretty sure he’s fine safety wise.
This virus has traversed the entire planet in 8 weeks so is very highly contagious. So complete avoidance of all human contact by staying at home is our only hope to slow it down. I think they call that a lockdown and many people are crying out or a lockdown. It’s my view that closing all non-essential shops is one step away from a lockdown. I would prefer people to be able to go for a walk or kick a ball in a park with their kids. I just don’t want them walking and stopping off for a take away or a coffee and muffin. Close non-essential shops ! Many of them have taken it upon themselves to close. Leave them open is giving the impression that this virus is not highly contagious when we now know it is.
Ok sorry not special rules but they need help. Lets get them a B and B not be critical. You dont know what SA is like. Its very dangerous, these people need help. Can someone identify if they need money please.
@Radek: money is not the issue here
@Radek: did you read the article?
Boo hoo….
First world problems.
There are millions of people living like that in SA all the time who will never get to leave on a chartered flight.
Looks to me like fair consideration should be given to their journey Aerlingus and Ryanair have extended their flights until Saturday to try to get people home
Hi I think we might be getting this all wrong, Why don’t they “cocoon” everyone with an underlining condition now, and let everyone else try n ride this out for a couple of months, all I can see happening with the way we are doing things is going to prolong this indefinitely,
@Philip McLoughlin: Why not both?
And just because you don’t have an underlying condition doesn’t mean you’ll not be seriously affected, it just means your risk is lower. But by no means does it mean you might not end up in hospital.
The experts have complained about false information on social media. They have also said that this virus is not as infectious as the flu. Really. They said you would need to be sitting beside someone coughing and spluttering for 5 or 6 minutes to get infected. They said transmission by touching a surface or your face is highly unlikely. Now given that we are all afraid of this virus globally nobody in their right mind would spend 5 minutes sitting beside someone coughing and spluttering so who is doing that. Yet it spreads. So, it’s my view given this virus has traversed the entire planet in 8 weeks that it is very highly contagious. So complete avoidance of all human contact by staying at home is our only hope to slow it down. I think they call that a lockdown. It’s my view that closing all non-essential shops is one step away from a lockdown. I would prefer people to be able to go for a walk or kick a ball in a park with their kids. I just don’t want them walking and stopping off for a coffee and muffin.
Should travel on an Irish passport!
There’s a lot more that should have been left stranded
Someone who is unfortunate has something bad happen to them! In this case we’re all in. Stay all safe!
Irish people look after own?
@Ann Nugent: maybe he should of looked for Irish help.
This virus has traversed the entire planet in 8 weeks so is very highly contagious. So complete avoidance of all human contact by staying at home is our only hope to slow it down. I think they call that a lockdown and many people are crying out for a lockdown. It’s my view that closing all non-essential shops is one step away from a lockdown. I would prefer people to be able to go for a walk or kick a ball in a park with their kids. I just don’t want them walking and stopping off for a take away or a coffee and muffin. Close non-essential shops ! Many of them have taken it upon themselves to close. Leaving them open is giving the impression that this virus is not highly contagious when we now know it is.
This virus has traversed the entire planet in 8 weeks so is very highly contagious. So complete avoidance of all human contact by staying at home is our only hope to slow it down. I think they call that a lockdown and many people are crying out for a lockdown. It’s my view that closing all non-essential shops is one step away from a lockdown. I would prefer people to be able to go for a walk or kick a ball in a park with their kids. I just don’t want them walking and stopping off for a take away or a coffee and muffin. Close non-essential shops ! Many of them have taken it upon themselves to close. Leave them open is giving the impression that this virus is not highly contagious when we now know it is.
@Imagine !: You can generally get away with posting a “stream of consciousness “ rant, which contains neither information nor conclusion, once. But to post the same rambling nonsense 4 times is the mark of an idiot.
@Con Cunningham: it’s because when they post it says there’s an error in posting the comment, instead of hitting “cancel” and “return” they keep trying to “submit comment” which makes the comment post more than once. It’s a problem with the app, I have it too but gotten used to just submitting once and then going back.
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: Yep, I get the same awful user experience , but in this case the post is modified each time, albeit slightly. Anyway, I tried to delete my post, it was a knee jerk, nasty post, been cooped up too long. I was wrong to play the player. But I can’t seem to cover up my crimes
@Con Cunningham: hahaha! Yeah unfortunately comments can’t be deleted once submitted. Ah don’t worry about it, there’ll be many more new headlines by the morning this comment won’t see the light of the day :D lol
@Con Cunningham: I actually thought I was imagining that the same post kept popping up. Thought something was wrong with my phone
Sorry can’t feel sorry for idiots that travel from their homes in times like this when the virus has been around for 3-months now that means 3 months warning for idiots even the self-important rich fat cats the virus don’t discriminate
have your say