APA-Johannesburg (South Africa) South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, who is usually on the receiving end of public displeasure with poor service delivery at government departments, was on Tuesday in the news for the right reasons for a change.
According to TimesLIVE, Motsoaledi, who used to be a medical doctor, is being praised for saving a man who fell unconscious while suffering a low blood sugar emergency on a plane from South African the port city of East London to the commercial hub Johannesburg.
The paper said Motsoaledi put on his doctor cap after he heard a commotion at the back of a FlySafair flight on Monday evening involving a man in his 30s.
“I was sleeping in front and heard a commotion at the back. When I woke up I found someone who had low blood sugar and they struggled to give him a sugar solution. The airline staff were looking for someone to attend to the emergency and I told them I’m a doctor,” Motsoaledi told TimesLIVE.
He added: “They told me to produce papers but I’m no longer practising. Someone on the airline vouched for me and said I was a minister and doctor. The staff members were very doubtful.”
He said when the body experiences low blood sugar, it loses power like a car out of petrol.
Some fellow passengers on the flight took to social media, praising the minister on X (formerly Twitter) for saving the man’s life.
“On behalf of all passengers on board a FlySafair flight from East London to Joburg, we salute a selfless and heroic intervention by minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi who attended to a sick passenger on the flight,” wrote Ndzipho Kalipa, a former member of the Gauteng provincial legislature.
Political analyst Makhosini Mgitywa also confirmed the incident in another post on X.
Motsoaledi’s ministerial portfolio is responsible for the issuance of national identity cards, passports and work permits as well as the running of the country’s entry points.
The ministry is often accused of incompetence and corruption.
JN/APA