A Durban mum who went to Saudi Arabia to bolster her family’s ailing finances desperately needs help to free her from a work-related 'hostage’ situation so that she can return home.
Her family said she was broke, has no food and was even harbouring suicidal thoughts.
Westville resident Naadia Sheik Hameed, known in the community for feeding thousands of people through her non-profit organisation, Tiny Steps Care Team, was now the one in need.
The family says when Sheik Hameed’s NPO struggled to attract funding, she dipped into her private funds to assist people.
When the money ran out and her husband’s health took a turn for the worse, she decided to put her education degree to use and apply for a “tax free” teaching job in the Middle East.
However, when she arrived in Jeddah what she expected from the job and living conditions was vastly different from reality and she developed major health issues. While her employer has verbally told her she would have to pay an “exit fee” if she wanted to leave, to date they have not given her an amount or even negotiated with her.
Her husband Mohamed Shah said they’ve reached out far and wide for help but:
“It's like a hostage situation. They don't want to give her the exit visa until you pay them a large sum of money. So they're not telling us exactly how much it is. But we know it's going to be like two months salary, it's going to be the visa cost, all the paperwork and all of that. So we're trying to do fundraising and it's just not happening.”
Shah said another South African who was in a similar situation had to pay a R90 000 “exit” fee to her employer, and buy tickets for the flights back home.
In addition the woman wasn't given her salary or reimbursed for the flight to Saudi Arabia and the visa costs, as promised.
Shah said that he’s been inundated with calls from people who want to know what’s the latest but very few have been willing to offer assistance.
They’ve also reached out to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation hoping that the government could negotiate her return home.
However, in correspondence seen by Sunday Tribune the government said it cannot intervene in a private contractual matter.
While Shah struggled to remain strong for his wife and take care of their 8-year old twins and 5-year old daughter, he blamed himself for the situation.
He said people want to know why his wife went to work while he was at home.
“It’s very stressful. They say the husband needs to do this, the husband needs to do that. I mean, in a time of crisis, anyone does what they need to do, said Shah.
Friends said Sheik Hameed ended up in Jeddah after she and other teachers met a man in Durban who was a representative of the international school and he “sugar-coated” the job.
When they approached him with their concerns in Saudi Arabia he said “this is not South Africa this is Saudi Arabia.”
Shah said while other more lucrative offers came afterwards, his wife believed that “everything happens for a reason” and that she was meant to be in the “holy land” and in a city close to Mecca.
Those close to her said the process was flawed from the start and that she was a victim of an international scam which exploited her financially from the time she accepted the contract, during the visa process and upon arrival in Jeddah where she learnt that she would have to pay for the lights, water, “building fees” and teaching aides like paper for the classroom, from her pocket.
Sheik Hameed was also forced to spend thousands of rand just to get to Saudi Arabia and even more in Jeddah. Even when she was ill and too weak to teach she was told that they were only entitled to one day’s sick leave.
When she questioned the disparities between what was happening and her expectations, her family says she was again warned that “this is not South Africa” and the labour laws are different.
Shah said he was “terribly worried” about his wife. They have also started an online back-a-buddy campaign hoping that people would donate funds to get her home and thanked those who already made donations. Shah is also worried that his wife might end up homeless.
“The main thing is we need to raise the funds to bring her because it's a different country. A lot of people would say don't let them win and let's fight them, but there's no point in fighting because her health is on the line right now.”
Dr Imtiaaz Sooliman the CEO of the Gift of The Givers Foundation said it was not a government-to-government issue but an employer-to-employee issue which becomes a civil matter for both sides and takes a long time to resolve.
Sooliman said in the past few years he has received about 15 requests for assistance from South Africans working abroad.
“I've had probably eight to 10 requests from Dubai, one or two from Thailand and one or two from Saudi Arabia and one or two from somewhere else. But it's always the same issue, governments don't get involved and people wait a very long time.”
Sooliman has called on South Africans to investigate things thoroughly and have an exit strategy before going to work overseas because many people have been conned.
“Business people have gone across, lost everything, and have been locked up. They form associations with people on the other side and then they are put into prison for whatever reason. They lose all their money, all their investments. They lose their passports and they can't come out. It's a very, very complicated issue. So they must be very, very careful before going to work in these countries,” Sooliman said.