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WATCH: MTV base host Shamiso thrown off flight, CemAir says ‘matter has been distorted’
CemAir denied racial profiling and accused Shamiso of being 'unruly and abusive'.
Photo: Supplied @Shamiso_/ X account
Domestic airline CemAir is in hot water after a live video of a YouTube content creator and MTV Base South presenter goes viral.
In the video, Shamiso Mosaka, who is an influencer and also Azania Mosaka’s daughter, can be seen being forced to disembark a plane by a police officer.
Shamiso: ‘I do not know what I did’
The incident occurred after Shamiso was asked to get off the plane for swearing during a phone call with a friend, where she allegedly said “what the f***”.
According to one of the passengers who was on flight 5Z 0329 from Durban to Johannesburg on Sunday, none of the passengers complained about Shamiso’s behaviour. However, it is alleged that disputes with the CemAir flight attendant led to her being forcefully removed from the plane by the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Watch: Shamiso asked to leave CemAir flight
Warning: The video contains some bad language.
CemAir has since faced criticism on social media.
During the live video shared on social media, Shamiso said that she was being mistreated by the flight attendants and made allegations of racism.
She can even be seen going back inside the aircraft to sit down and refusing to leave her seat.
“I’m not leaving. No, actually I do not trust you guys, I’m going to sit down,” she says.
In the background, some passengers can be heard prompting her to sit down.
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One of the police officers follows her and tells her go outside.
The socialite then walks to the captain’s cabin, leading to the pilot asking her to switch off her phone.
“I cannot switch off the phone, I wanted to switch it off because I thought that I going to get to fly,” she says.
Referring to the flight attendant she allegedly had the initial altercation with, Shamiso says: “This woman has a problem with me and I am assuming it is racially based – I do not know what I did to her so bad.
“She has a problem with the fact that I swore on a phone call with my friend,” she added.
CemAir says incident has been ‘distorted’
On Monday, CemAir acknowledged that Shamiso was forced to get off the plane.
Speaking to The Citizen on Monday, CemAir’s chief financial officer (CFO) Laura van der Molen said the matter had been blown out of proportion on social media and what was being depicted was not actually what happened.
“The matter has been distorted on social media, there is no racial profiling,” said Van der Molen.
She said Shamiso “refused to adhere to the regulations of the airline and unfortunately had to be forcibly removed”.
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CemAir also released a statement on Monday about the incident, saying Shamiso was late before she became “unruly and abusive” by refusing to follow the “lawful” instructions of the flight attendant.
“When the cabin crew member determined that she was unable to reason with the passenger she informed the captain. The captain shut down the already running engines and attempted to persuade the passenger to comply with the safety regulations onboard the aircraft.
“When the captain could not reason with the passenger either, the matter was handed over to the South African Police Service and the passenger was removed from the aircraft,” the statement read.
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“Whilst under police escort from the aircraft the passenger freed herself and attempted to gain access to the aircraft flight deck. This is a serious offence,” the airline added.
CemAir said it would work with the police to further investigate the matter and its potential prosecution.
The Citizen reached out to Shamiso for comment. The article will be updated once received.
