[imagesource: Steve Bidmead/Pixaby]

Planning a dreamy couples vacation to magnificent Madagascar?

Well, not so fast.

An ongoing diplomatic stand-off between South African and Madagascan government officials may delay your first encounter with a lemur; and, according to the investigative powerhouses at Daily Maverick, the demise of your travel plans may have something to do with a fortune of confiscated gold.

In April this year, Madagascar lifted COVID-19 restrictions and opened its borders to the rest of the world – with one notable exception.

All South African aircrafts remain prohibited from landing in Madagascar, including independent SA Airlink, which ordinarily offers commercial flights to the popular island destination.

I think it’s safe to say that most South Africans are pretty used to feeling unwelcome overseas, post-pandemic… but our Madagascan exile has nothing to do with any new “South African” COVID-19 variants.

Image: Pixaby

On December 31, 2020, South African airport officials at O.R. Tambo International confiscated 73,5 kilograms of gold bars, as well as an indeterminate (but presumably large) sum of foreign currency, from three individuals who entered from Madagascar, smuggling the bounty in their hand-luggage.

Rumour has it there may even have been enough gemstones in the stash to make the combined loot worth a mind-bending R20 billion, but this hasn’t been verified.

The apprehended trio has since been jailed in South Africa.

Subsequently, Malagasy President Andry Rajoelina has been less than impressed with the punitive measures imposed by our Aviation authorities.

In addition to demanding the release and repatriation of the smugglers, the Madagascan government has insisted that South Africa turn over the stolen fortune.

But at present, SA authorities are still insisting that the detained couriers must submit to the rule of law here, where they committed the crime.

According to the Daily Maverick piece, the discovery of the smuggled gold in South Africa created massive shockwaves in the Madagascan political sphere, where a senior government official was implicated, and the twelve arrests made in the aftermath of investigations included that of the secretary-general of the government’s civil aviation authority.

In the midst of all this furore,  President Rajoelina is no doubt finding SA governmental authorities reticence to do as he asks. The SA-specific travel ban seems to be his way of enforcing tit-for-tat.

Until the issue is resolved, travellers looking to go between South Africa and Madagascar have to resort to flying via destinations such as Addis, Nairobi, and Mauritius.

An exacerbated Airlink CEO Rodger Foster described this state of affairs as “bizarre.”

[source:dailymaverick]