Body stuck at airport
FOR Roelof “Jaco” Janse van Rensburg’s family, the relief of having his body returned to South Africa was short-lived after it got stuck at OR Tambo International Airport’s customs services for two days.
Janse van Rensburg’s body arrived from Mali on Saturday, but the family were told they could not collect the body from the airport because the airport’s customs services did not operate on weekends.
Janse van Rensburg, 39, was one of 13 people killed over two weeks ago when a group of rebels attacked their hotel in the Mali town of Sevare.
Two fellow South Africans who were with him as part of a UN peacekeeping mission survived the attack.
Janse van Rensburg’s wife Carina was left disappointed after she waited at the airport for the body on Saturday morning, only to be told it would be released today.
Speaking to The Star’s sister newspaper, the Pretoria News, at their home in Pretoria, Carina said the hurdle was a bittersweet experience. “On the one hand we are relieved that we can finally get closure and lay him to rest, but on the other we have been left heartbroken by the delay.”
Despite this hurdle, Carina said the hardest part of retrieving Jaco’s body was over. “We were told that most of the other bodies were still stuck in Mali, and we were lucky to have got his body back so quickly,” she said.
Carina said she was grateful for the role played by the Department of International Relations and the South African Embassy in Mali in the repatriation of Jaco’s body.
Sitting with two of her four children, twin brothers Kobus and Eugene, Carina said her children were yet to fully grasp the gravity of the situation. “They are sad. But it hasn’t hit them yet.”
The body was accompanied by one of the two South Africans who survived the attack. Neels Cronjé arrived on a separate flight.
The funeral is to be held on Wednesday at the Dutch Reformed Church in Booysens, Pretoria.