Hundreds return home from Dubai

Hundreds of South Africans stranded in Dubai when bombing began last weekend had returned home by yesterday after the UAE partially opened its airspace. However, many more are still trying to secure flights as not all airlines have resumed operations.

Although flights were suspended for several hours yesterday after Dubai International Airport was bombed, Emirates airline has been running three flights to South Africa daily since Wednesday.

The UAE’s airspace was temporarily shut down after the country came under heavy bombardment, reportedly from Iran, in retaliation for missile attacks by the US and Israel.

DJ and socialite Eva Modika, who had been booked on Qatar Airways, was yesterday still in Dubai looking for “the first available flight to South Africa”. She had been due to fly back on Tuesday. Modika had been booked to perform in Dubai last Sunday — her birthday — but events were cancelled after the bombing began.

I am very calm right now. What the government here is doing to make sure everyone is calm is working

—  Eva Modika, DJ and socialite

She said she was scared at first but later realised the UAE’s air-defence systems were effective. “The whole drama happened on Saturday when they bombed the Fairmont at The Palm while I was with my friend at the Casablanca, also at The Palm,” she said.

Modika posted about her ordeal on Instagram, which led to the South African government making contact with her. She said the Dubai government was accommodating tourists who had valid plane tickets in hotels at the government’s expense. “I am very calm right now. What the government here is doing to make sure everyone is calm is working,” she added.

Modika said flights were now available on a first-come, first-served basis, with a large backlog of travellers trying to leave.

Department of international relations & co-operation (Dirco) spokesperson Clayson Monyela said the situation in the Gulf region was a “moving target”. Monyela said about 8,000 South Africans in Gulf states had registered on the Dirco Travel Smart app since hostilities began.

“Emirates has been flying the Joburg/Cape Town route, and a lot of our people who were stuck have started arriving,” he said.

It’s not easy. It’s an ongoing project, as it’s a moving target. One minute airspace is partially reopened, the next minute an attack like the one at Dubai Airport takes place and it gets closed again.

—  Clayson Monyela, Dirco spokesperson

Although flights remained limited, hundreds of South Africans had managed to return home since Wednesday, he said. Many of those affected were travellers in transit who had been stranded in Dubai, while South Africans in countries such as Bahrain were mostly there for work. Dirco has been in talks with both Emirates and South African Airways about flights out of Dubai.

“They [SAA and Emirates] have been saying that in the next few days flights will be back to 100% operations, so we don’t think we still have a major crisis in terms of people stuck in the UAE.”

Those registered on the department’s database are receiving regular updates on the availability of flights, especially from Dubai, said Monyela.

“In Bahrain we don’t have a lot of people that want to get out. Most of the people there — more than 1,000 that we know of — live and work there, so it’s not people who were on holiday.”

Even those who do not currently want to return to South Africa have registered on the app in case hostilities worsen and it becomes unsafe to stay, he said. “It’s the same situation in Saudi Arabia, which has not been bombarded as much, but the ambassador has created a WhatsApp group with South Africans there.”

Three South Africans in Tel Aviv have contacted the department saying they no longer feel safe and were advised to cross into Jordan and then Egypt for a safe return home, said Monyela.

“It’s not easy. It’s an ongoing project, as it’s a moving target. One minute airspace is partially reopened, the next minute an attack like the one at Dubai Airport takes place and it gets closed again.”

I personally apologise to neighbouring countries that were affected by Iran’s actions

—  Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian

Israel and Iran traded attacks as the war entered its second week yesterday, while Tehran issued an unusual apology to neighbouring states for its “actions”, apparently seeking to calm regional anger over its strikes on civilian targets in the Gulf.

“I personally apologise to neighbouring countries that were affected by Iran’s actions,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said, urging them not to join US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

He dismissed US President Donald Trump’s demand for the Islamic republic’s unconditional surrender as “a dream”, but said Iran’s temporary leadership council had agreed to suspend attacks on nearby states unless strikes on Iran originated from their territory.

Trump nonetheless characterised Iran’s apology as a surrender, while saying yesterday that the country would be “hit very hard”.

Pezeshkian’s comments caused a political stir in Iran, prompting his office to reiterate that Iran’s military would respond firmly to attacks from US bases in the region. Hardline cleric and lawmaker Hamid Rasai wrote on X: “Mr Pezeshkian, your stance was unprofessional, weak and unacceptable.”

Hours after Pezeshkian’s announcement, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said their drones had struck a US air combat centre at Al Dhafra Air Base near Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE. Reuters could not independently verify that report.

Huge explosions were heard in several parts of the Iranian capital, state media reported.