[imagesource: Richard Huggard / Gallo Images]
Over the course of Sunday, various reports regarding the arrest of Springbok Elton Jantjies began to filter out.
Details were initially very scarce, but it was stated that he had been arrested for “malicious damage to property” after he touched down in Johannesburg on an Emirates Airlines flight from Dubai.
He had been on holiday with his family in Turkey before his arrest.
Jantjies’ agent, In Touch Sports’ James Adams, then released a statement via Twitter saying that the incident had been somewhat overblown:
Mr Elton Jantjies Press Release – by James Adams, CEO of In Touch Sports and Agent to Elton Jantjies. pic.twitter.com/0Bmk8xsfGR
— In Touch Sports (@InTouchSports) May 15, 2022
Essentially, Adams stated that it was only a light that had been damaged.
However, a bombshell News24 report from earlier this morning paints a very different picture. The 31-year-old World Cup-winning flyhalf is accused of banging on a toilet cubicle door for 10 minutes, saying “Komaan, my skat” (come on, my darling) while an air hostess hid inside:
Two witnesses told News24 that Jantjies was unsteady on his feet and that there was blood “all over the toilet door” and that his blood-stained fists smeared some of the seats as he made his way to his seat after he was unable to breach the door.
A visibly “terrified” air hostess then emerged from the toilet after Jantjies had returned to his seat, according to a witness.
A witness said Jantjies, who was flying business class, had entered the economy class section of the plane to bang on the cubicle door and was walking “in a clumsy way”.
Another witness said he “struggled to keep his balance while walking” and punched the cubicle door to the point where his knuckles were bleeding.
EWN reports that Jantjies is expected to appear in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court today:
Gauteng police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said that the sportsman was released from custody on Sunday.
“The South African Police Service can confirm that the 31-year-old man who was arrested at the O.R. Tambo International Airport has been released on R1,000 bail. He will appear before the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court,” said Mathe.
A spokesperson for SA Rugby said the organisation was aware of the arrest but was “still in the process of gathering more information”.
