SA scuba diver still stuck in Madagascar thanks to Covid

Francois Basson went to Madagascar in January last year to work as a scuba diving instructor at a conservation company.

“When the lockdown was implemented a few of us stayed behind because we figured we would get things started again once the lockdown was lifted,” Basson said.

Basson soon realised he was working for the wrong company and decided to leave the company and the island in February this year.

“At some point, there were no flights available and the flights were so expensive we could never afford it,” he said.

Basson said some of the prices were as high as R50,000 for a one-way ticket.

“You will also have to make sure your stop time in France is no longer than 24 hours, otherwise you need a visa, which was impossible to get at this point,” he said.

Basson said after he and a group of British friends left the conservation company, they managed to get accommodation at a local lodge for a few weeks while they waited for flights.

“I sold my scuba equipment and my laptop to take a boat to the main island to try and get a flight,” he said.

Within two days of their arrival in Antananarivo, Basson’s British friends’ flight arrived to take them back home, leaving him behind.

“That was hard on me. I struggled after they left,” he said.

Basson was stranded on the island for a month and a half before returning to Nosy Komba, a volcanic island off the northwest coast of Madagascar.

“I have been to our embassy and phoned several times but they have not been much help. I’m gatvol,” Basson said.

His parents and friends have been sending him money to help him survive.

Basson said a few months ago, the South African government was going to send a cargo aircraft which he could have boarded for free, but Madagascar would not issue a permit for the aircraft to land.

“There were also two repatriation flights that picked up citizens but the embassy never let me know, so I missed those,” Basson said.

He said his visa had also expired.

“Every month they say the borders are opening and then they don’t,” he said.

Basson said although Madagascar was a poor country, it was expensive for him to live there.

There is no electricity on the island he is stuck on.

“Food is expensive and we eat pap and meat; they eat fish and rice, and I am allergic to fish, so you can just imagine the crazy amount of rice I have eaten.”

He said he missed having Sunday lunch with his family and speaking in Afrikaans.

Before the lockdown, Basson spent five years travelling the world and never thought he would miss home soil.

“It feels like I’m never going to come home,” he said.

Department of international relations and cooperation spokesperson Clayson Monyela was surprised to hear of Basson’s plight.

Monyela said the department would immediately follow up and try to assist in bringing him back home.