However, a spokesperson for Minister of Foreign Affairs Maite Nkoana-Mashabane claimed that Oslo airport security violated diplomatic immunity and that other nations' foreign ministers are not subjected to such intrusions.
Nkoana-Mashabane, reportedly angered by the incident, left Oslo on a chartered flight after refusing to allow airport security to scan her personal luggage on a commercial flight. She was in Norway on a state visit.
"She insisted on going around the metal detector instead of through it," Oslo airport's information manager, Jo Kobro, told CNN. "Everybody in Norway, including the prime minister, is subjected to security controls. The only people who are exempt are our king and heads of state."
The minister's spokesperson Clayson Monyela argued that, per the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Nkoana-Mashabane's personal luggage should not be subjected to an inspection.
"There was nothing in her handbag which could not be disclosed. This matter was not about the contents of the luggage. It's a matter of principle in line with the Vienna Convention," Monyela said.
Monyela said that as South Africa's chief diplomat, the minister "has certain privileges."
"These countries cannot expect to be accorded diplomatic immunity in our country when they refuse to do the same for us," Monyela said.
Some South Africans have applauded the minister for standing her ground.
"Hilary Clinton would never be searched. So why should Mashabane be? She fought for her rights," one citizen said in a post on Twitter.
According to Krobo, when Clinton was in Norway, she landed at a military airbase and was therefore not subjected to rules governing commercial air travel.
In an opinion piece in the online publication Daily Maverick, a local journalist sympathized with Nkoana-Mashabane, saying she suffered humiliation during apartheid and that, as a representative of a free democratic South Africa, she should expect to be treated with respect.
But others have been less sympathetic, especially since the argument caused the minister to miss her flight and led to her chartering a private plane at an additional cost of about $34,000.
The main opposition party in South Africa has called for the minister to pick up the tab for what they call "her vanity and excesses."
"Government Ministers should be subject to the same security regulations as every other airline passenger, and there should be no provision that allows members of the executive to bill the public for their superiority complexes," National Party spokesperson Lindiwe Mazibuko said in a statement.
According to the Oslo airport, the minister was subjected to the same security procedures for the charter flight that she refused to submit to earlier, but this time she submitted two diplomatic bags, which were exempt from inspection.
Nkoana-Mashabane's office, however, said that her luggage was never searched and that she received an apology from the airport.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Airtel Nigeria.
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