Popular Skeem Saam actress Amanda du Pont was allegedly embroiled in a war of words with airport staff before she and her partner travelled to Turkey on Sunday, moments before President Cyril Ramaphosa imposed a travel ban to Europe following the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
The rumpus started when airport staff reportedly advised her and her partner not to travel.
The officials allegedly told her that flights might be cancelled or recalled as Ramaphosa was set to make an announcement that was likely to affect international travel.
However, sources at the airport revealed that Du Pont, who plays the dramatic character of Lelo on the SABC1 soapie, insisted that nothing will stop her from leaving the country.
“She just said her flights were booked way before the virus, and she dared us to try stop her from leaving. She said we will know what she is made of,” said a staff member.
Du Pont’s management at Owen S Management confirmed that the actress was in Turkey, but refused to comment further.
“We will forward your questions to her and see if she will respond,” said Lauren Harrison, one of the officials at the company.
But the company had not responded to Sunday World questions at the time of going to print.
However, those close to the actress revealed that Du Pont and her partner Shawn Rodriques had long planned the trip and she was at the airport before the announcement by the president.
“At the time the president imposed a travel ban to Europe, Amanda had already gone. Her gripe with the staff was that they wanted to stop her from leaving the country while there was no travel ban,” said a source close to her management.
The source said Du Pont didn’t fight with the staff but merely stated her rights to travel outside the country. But it appears that this was not the only drama her travel to Turkey ignited.
She was attacked by her Instagram and Twitter followers after she posted pictures of her in the Maldives, calling one picture “magical nights”.
Her followers chastised her for travelling overseas amid the coronavirus, stating that she was insensitive. The Swazi-born actress had also shared pictures of her and her partner enjoying a bicycle ride on a small wooden pathway surrounded by water.
But what irked her followers was her comparison about how other countries’ methods to deal with the coronavirus were more advanced than in SA’S.
In other news – Rapist Kwaito star Brickz struggling in Prison
As a father, you would wish to try all your best to be part of your children’s life no matter under what difficult circumstances. Disgraced kwaito star and rape convict Brickz’s family has requested his wife Nqobile Ndlovu to release his two children to visit him in prison on alternate weekends.
Sunday World can reveal that on December 28 last year, members of the Ndlovu family went to Newcastle, Kwazulu-natal, continue reading
Source: Sunday World
