Mihlali Baleka at Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca, finally receiving his bag after two days in Rabat, Morocco. I have traveled for some time now – between towns, provinces, countries and continents. But amid all that adrenaline and adventure, it has been deeply ingrained in me never to purposely allow my luggage to reach a destination before I do.
If you are a Black person, particularly from the Nguni tribe – like I am – you already know why. For those who aren’t, I’ll explain: luggage arriving at a destination without its owner is traditionally seen as a bad omen, symbolic of the owner’s death. With that in mind, ever since I started traveling for boarding school in the early 2000s, I made sure my bags were always in sight.
When I started taking flights, however, I knew I had to be flexible. There was a high chance I might arrive without my luggage – whether it ended up ahead of me or behind. But at least I knew that was out of my control.
Read Full Article on The Mercury
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My fears became a reality in 2019. I touched down at Africa’s busiest hub, OR Tambo International Airport, without my bags. To my surprise, the baggage claims desk informed me that my luggage was still at Heathrow Airport in London.
Young and carefree, I didn’t read too much into it. They promised it would arrive on the next flight, and sure enough, I received my bag intact. Mihlali Baleka departing from the OR Tambo International Airport with his colleague from the Sowetan, Sihle Ndebele.
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