1999 Volvo V70 little used in UK but I am now in South afri

Hi, I imported my volvo 5 cylinder T5 estate from the UK to South Africa and using it locally was not a problem but I had a 1300 mile return to do in a hurry so I did not have time to check out the aircon
but it was soon evident it was not working properly so I had it regassed but it still would not kick in, auto elictrician says electrics ok and he thinks it, s the pump but as we were drivng home it kicked in twice all of a sudden. Question is can that happen if the pump has gone?Thank You.