Sunday Times reports that a real-life horror movie is playing out at SA’s isolated Antarctica base where one of the 10-member overwintering team has been accused of being mentally unstable and violent.
Urgent efforts are under way to ease tensions inside the base as the team is almost entirely cut off from the outside world for the next 10 months due to encroaching ice and fierce winter weather. The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), which manages the SA National Antarctic Programme, confirmed that an investigation into alleged misconduct was under way. Much of the drama is described in an e-mail sent last month by a team member pleading for "immediate action" to ensure their safety at the remote Sanae IV base about 170km inland from the ice shelf. It claimed a rogue team member physically assaulted and threatened to kill a colleague, and sexually assaulted another. Environment minister Dion George confirmed seeing the e-mail. “The department is responding to these concerns with the utmost urgency and have had a number of interventions with all parties concerned at the base,” said DFFE communications chief Peter Mbelengwa. Two sources with inside knowledge said the only way to presently leave the base was via emergency medical evacuation to a neighbouring German base about 300km away. Questions have been raised about the veracity of psychometric tests done to ensure the team can endure the psychological stress of isolation. But the DFFE said all team members passed initial screening tests.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Bobby Jordan at Sunday Times (subscriber access only)
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