A passenger waiting on board an aeroplane for a flight from Namibia to South Africa began to bleed persistently and was saved by former health minister Aaron Motsoaledi.

In a tweet shared by one of the passengers, Ntokozo Mahlangu, on Sunday, another passenger on board began bleeding on Friday afternoon.

Speaking to Sowetan, Mahlangu said he had been attending a conference in Namibia which was also attended by the home affairs minister.

One of the passengers started bleeding and had to be pulled out of the aircraft at about 4pm, he said.

“He started bleeding but I think it had to do with the fact that there were delays for our SAA flight [to take off] …We were at the airport for a very long time and the temperatures were quite high. He started bleeding and I think he was pulled out of the plane,” Mahlangu said.

“The cabin crew tried to assist but the bleeding just could not stop; that was when Dr Aaron Motsoaledi stepped out of the plane and started assisting the passenger until the bleeding stopped. It did not take even five minutes and the bleeding stopped and the passenger returned to the aircraft.”

Mahlangu decided to tweet his experience on Sunday, praising Motsoaledi for showing that he cares.

“He was totally incredible! At some point he was running around picking up blood-stained tissues that were blown off by air... So selfless and compassionate,” he tweeted.