A South African medical team will be landing in New York on Saturday morning before heading to the earthquake devastated island of Haiti.

South African Airways transported the team from OR Tambo International Airport on Friday night.

From New York they will head to Haiti to assist a number of other rescue teams from around the world.

SAA’s Vilma Maistry said they were happy to help the volunteers get to the island nation.

“The team includes a trauma doctor, trauma nurses, advanced life support medics and trauma counsellors. They will travel with much needed medical supplies to the island which will be transported by SAA Cargo,” she said.

CALLS FOR ARISTIDE

Meanwhile survivors of the quake are calling for the return of their ousted former president.

A slogan on a wall in the ruined Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, calls for the return of former president Jean Bertrand Aristide.

Importer Julian Lewis said he is not afraid to call for the return of ousted Haitian president Jean Bertrand Aristide. “I’m not afraid of [anything], only God, because when you die you die,” he said.

Another man in the group, who identified himself as Auguste, said that it is remarkable that a concrete monument constructed by Aristide over the road from the palace appears unscathed.

In Creole, a bystander adds to the conversation in Creole: Aristide we pa we – which means the unseen former President should now become visible.

Exiled in South Africa since 2004, Aristide said he cannot wait to help rebuild the country after the devastating earthquake last week.

(Edited by Deshnee Subramany)