Definitely inexperienced travelers. I always pack a day or two of clothes in my carry on. I rarely "need" my checked luggage for a couple of days unless I am going on a camping trip.
Right. The only thing that bugs me is that there was absolutely no communication between JNB to the crew in ATL (as they said that they had just learned about it) or the crew enroute from JNB to ATL. I feel that the flight attendants could've at least explained it calmly while in the air and answer any questions (and notify the owners of the 6 bags privately).
What happened here is that people waited for 40 minutes (immigration was pretty dead) and then we were told via a guy standing on top of the baggage claim belt yelling that only 6 bags made it on the plane. After that it become chaotic and messy. Plus they pawn it off to DL customer service reps at the passenger's final destination, and while I am arriving in Seattle where there is quite a DL presence, others may not be so lucky. Which will add on to the frustration for any inexperienced flyer.