Agents and clients owed refunds and referral fees by Guardian Assist from 2020 repatriation flights, have still not received their money, and the dearth of correspondence about an appointed liquidator is raising questions about whether the company has in fact gone into liquidation or not.
Guardian Assist Medical Solutions traditionally operated as a medical evacuation firm but became involved in repatriation flights during hard lockdown, offering agents a R1 000 referral commission for any bookings made with them. The company also promised to pay out refunds to clients where flight prices changed during the booking process.
Travel News received calls from agents in early October, worried that weeks had gone by with no refunds or referral payments being processed by Guardian Assist. At the time, the alleged owner of Guardian Assist, JP van Tonder, went on record with Travel News saying that he had been finalising an audit of the bookings and would process the refunds and referrals the following week.
But no money was received and the next week JP sent an email to the affected agents, saying that Guardian Assist Repatriation Flights would shut down and that the liquidator’s details would be shared once a liquidator had been appointed by a magistrate.
Almost half a year has since passed and affected agents say they have still not received a cent, that no liquidator details have been shared and that JP no longer responds to their emails. This was confirmed by owner of XL HalloWorld Travel, Linda Wattrus; part owner of Checkout Travel, Holly Pereira; and owner of JMC Travel, Jenny Kutlu.
A website search shows that Guardian Assist’s website (www.guardianassist.co.za) and its repatriation flight website (flights.guardianassist.co.za) are both still in operation, with no notification displayed about a liquidation. Travel News contacted the advertised telephone number for Guardian Assist and found it was still being answered, although Cornelius would not answer questions about the repatriation flight arm or the status of either business. Meanwhile, attempts to contact JP van Tonder and Guardian Assist by email continue to go unanswered.
Furthermore, a search on the CIPC website lists only Guardian Assist Medical Solutions as a registered company with no reference to a separate ‘repatriation flight’ business or any updates notifying liquidation.
Jenny said the absence of correspondence about a liquidator was suspicious and she alleged that these claims of liquidation appeared to be untruthful. She alleged that it was more likely that JP simply had no intention of paying back the money he owed.
“We have been unable to determine whether they are indeed liquidating,” said owner of All About Travel, Elzanne Richter, who said she was still owed R280 000 from Guardian Assist.
“We have phoned the Johannesburg Guardian Assist number just to be told that they are not aware of any liquidation. As we are a business entity, we cannot make a criminal case against him. We have to sue them, and we simply don’t have the money for the legal process. It’s been months now and no communication updates have been sent. We all feel that he is just getting away with it,” she added.
Kirsty Rebelo, who looks after airline supplier relations for FCTG, told Travel News that Guardian Assist had eventually responded to Flight Centre’s chasers and advised Flight Centre that the liquidation was being handled by Stockenstrom Fouche Inc, who could be contacted on 012 362 4063 or on gert@sfinclaw.com. Kirsty said the company had passed these details on to the affected clients but she had not yet had any feedback about whether funds had been retrieved.
Travel News tried to contact Stockenstrom Fouche Inc but its telephone line went unanswered and no response to our emails had been received at time of publication.
