Well, if this doesn't take the cake, I don't know what does? Can you imagine arriving at customs at a major international airport in the early hours of the morning. You happen to notice, to your absolute disbelief and surprise, that there are no immigration officials to clear your passport. You wait patiently in line for someone to appear but no-one does. It's 5.00am and you're tired and bleary eyed, so 45 minutes later, you figure screw it, and together with about a hundred of your fellow passengers, you simply waltz through customs, no questions asked, no entry stamp on your passport.
Sound a little impossible? Not at all. This is precisely what happened to a group of Nigerian passengers arriving at Johanneburg International Airport from Lagos last Thursday.
My two choice quotes of the day.
"I've travelled a lot around the world at odd hours, but this was the first time in my life that I experienced an unmanned immigration point at an international airport."
Nigerian passenger
"I am not saying it's correct. It's bad for the integrity and security of this country. We're still trying to find out what exactly happened."
South African Department of Home Affairs spokesman
Oh My!
Posted by: MK | December 19, 2005 at 12:23 PM
"We're still trying to find out exactly what happened."
sums up the dept of home affairs very well. give that spokesman a bigger soap box and a little more rope.
Posted by: owen | January 03, 2006 at 03:57 PM
OMG!!! Onan it's you!!! I should have known you'd be a blogger. How the hell are you?
Posted by: Bronwyn | January 04, 2006 at 12:57 PM