Cape Town - Donations are pouring in for Bongile Ntombela, a South African woman stuck in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to an unpaid loan.
The donations come after Ntombela posted a video on TikTok explaining how she found herself in the precarious position.
It’s been two days since her Backabuddy account was created and she has received almost R50 000 in donations.
She needs over R124 000 to pay off the loan.
She posted a video thanking everyone for the donations and other forms of assistance.
She further indicated that Clayson Monyela from the Department of International Relations and Co-operation reached out to offer help.
“I thank every person that has made a contribution and has prayed for me,” she said.
“I will try to have a live (Monday) evening when everyone is settled at home and just do a question and answer.
“But this (video) was just to say ngiyabonga (thank you). Hopefully I will be out of here before the end of the week.”
According to Ntombela, she has been living and working in the UAE for six years and lost her job earlier this year.
“They allowed me to stay on their residence visa while I was looking for another job. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a job,” she said.
She said her residence visa was subsequently cancelled, and a travel ban was imposed by the bank as she was unable to continue with her loan payments.
Ntombela said she planned to settle her loan in April.
She said she has now found a job in South Africa but can’t leave the UAE until she pays off the loan.
She said she owes the bank 25 000 dirhams, or about R124600.
On her first video, Ntombela indicated that she had no proper housing and was just scraping by.
“I think I was wise enough to be able to get my children out of the country and at least they are back in South Africa,” she said.
Ntombela said she tried to reason with the bank and explained to them that she was not trying to run away from her debt, but she needed to get home and would pay back the money when she starts her new job in South Africa.
She said her request was declined and she was told she has to stay in the country and settle her debt.
Responding at the time, Monyela had said consular assistance offered by embassies was non-financial.