Flight Cancellation due to hospitalisation.

My husband was admitted for in-hospital chemo on 5 Jan and is still in hospital with Leukemia and will be in hospital until his blood cells starts to grow again- probably another 10 days. He will hopefully be at home from the end of the month for 7-10 days before the next in-hospital chemo cycle starts. We were suppose to have a vacation starting on 27 Jan with a flight to CapeTown- which was planned the middle of last year. I send in a request for cancellation and refund on 12Jan, adding the oncologist's letter explaining the circumstances.No feedback. On 19 Jan I phoned in- the reference numbers were of no use- I had to resend the letter, which was not accepted. I can even send the hospital admission form if necessary. But- NO- I need to send the hospital admission on 26/27 Jan, whereafter the hospital will be contacted to confirm that he is still admitted before a refund can be processed. I will have to wait and try again then next week - and hope that it will be refunded- because then it is less than 24 hours before our scheduled flight. Why would Safair not want to know beforehand that they can sell the tickets to someone else? This is so frustrating... we already have lots to deal with.