SAA causes loss of money to a pensioner and keeps mum

Last year, Nov 2017, my mother booked a flight to travel to Jhb. The next day she was to travel to a different destination on a boat cruise. The SAA crafts destined for Dbn never left PE on the initial day, nor did they manage to leave the following day having promised a definite departure the following morning. Needless to say she lost the booking on the boat cruise as well as her money. What SAA managed to do is book overnight accommodation in her hometown and rebook her flight for the following week which meant that she had to rebook a cruise at an additional cost to herself due to the fact that the cancellation time for the cruise had lapsed. SAA is now not responding to any emails regarding the matter. Surely there is some responsibility that SAA must take for the money lost due to their inability to hold their end of the bargain?