A group of South African scientists in Antarctica sent a frantic email appealing for help after a colleague reportedly threatened to kill another team member. A mental health expert has warned of the dangers the scientists face and urged the government to act before it is too late.
The research team, stationed at the remote SANAE IV site, reportedly faces at least 10 months of isolation owing to adverse weather conditions.
Dr Todd Grande, a mental health counsellor and social commentator said that the government should evacuate the team or at least evacuate the alleged perpetrator.
"It says something about the condition of the base that one of the team members feels under threat, especially considering their standard for South Africa which has one of the highest murder rates in the world. It is a dangerous place. The person who reported the alleged attack is implying that they would feel safer in South Africa," he said.
After the email went viral, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) responded by saying that the man involved in an alleged assault wrote a formal apology to the victim and participated in further psychological evaluation.
"The Department confirms that there were no incidents that required any of the nine overwintering team members to be brought back to Cape Town.
"If such incidents occurred, the management team of the Department would have replaced such an overwintering team member with immediate effect, as the DFFE's position on the matter is clear: zero tolerance for any misconduct that would affect the working and relationship conditions at the SANAE IV," said the department.
However, Grande does not believe that this will help. He said the government's idea to engage mental health counsellors to address the problem might be effective, but that mental health counselling may not be successful in all situations.
"They don't want to spend money to mount a rescue mission or maybe they believe it would be a national embarrassment to do so. Counselling is wonderful for a variety of purposes like reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, obsessiveness, paranoia and mood instability. It is not ideal to prevent a person who is a thousand of miles away from being violent.
"Violence could erupt at any moment in that station in my opinion. The alleged perpetrator should be evacuated, and the alleged offence would have resulted in an arrest in South Africa."
IOL