Facing Up to Security Problems at OR Tambo International Airport
blurb:isstoday:16042008ortambo
16 April 2008: Facing Up to Security Problems at OR Tambo International Airport
The debate about security at South Africa’s OR Tambo International airport has been reduced to an argument about whether incidents are ‘organised’ or not, whether customs officials are involved or not, and whether one syndicate is responsible or rather that the robberies associated with the airport are random acts characteristic of South Africa’s criminal landscape.
Looking back, the airport’s track record on security suggests that debates about how organised the current robberies are, miss the point. In December 2001 armed robbers stole $1.5 million in cash, and more than $100,000 worth of diamonds and jewellery from the cargo depot. In 2004 armed men attempted, despite a police escort, to steal cargo (allegedly of gold and diamonds) that was being loaded onto an aeroplane. Several policemen were wounded in the ensuing gun battle.
Two years later, a group of around 25 heavily armed robbers stole R74 million in foreign currency from an SAA cargo plane. Seventeen people were arrested at the time, and there was little doubt that the robberies were highly organised. Then, when it seemed public confidence couldn’t sink any lower, we learned that the R40 million recovered from the arrestees had been stolen from the police’s walk-in safe. Three policemen, one of whom had been investigating the airport robbery, were among the five suspects arrested for the theft.
While crime problems at the airport have since been less dramatic, they appear to have increased in frequency. Reports of theft in the baggage handling department, thefts and robberies in the domestic and international terminals as well as of travellers returning from the airport, abound. The problems in the baggage department resulted in the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) setting up a new ‘baggage protection unit’ at OR Tambo International in 2007. The special unit reportedly provides a 24 hour service of 26 guards per eight hour shift at the cost of R5.4 million per year. This move was followed by the appointment in 2008 of new handlers, with the accompanying promise that baggage theft ‘is set to decline’ (News24, 25/2/08).
While ACSA’s security branch seems determined to improve the situation at the airport, public communications by the South African Police Service (SAPS) on the issue has done little to boost local and international confidence. Up to late 2007, SAPS media statements acknowledged the problem and referred to investigations by the Johannesburg organised crime unit in relation to robberies of people leaving the airport.
But by March this year, police spokespersons focused on denying that there was ‘evidence to suggest that a syndicate might be involved in most of the attacks’ (The Star, 7/3/08) or that customs officials were involved. Bizarre statements from the SAPS followed such as ‘infrastructure at the airport doesn’t allow for a syndicate to operate’ (The Herald Online, 4/1/08), and that the ‘low value of the items stolen – often laptops, luggage, cell phones and foreign currency – does not indicate organised criminal syndicate involvement’ (The Star, 15/3/08).
The SAPS’ unsympathetic and questionable approach to the problem is best captured by spokesperson Vish Naidoo’s retort to the media: ‘I am sick and tired of hearing this [allegation that syndicates are operating at the airport]’ (The Pretoria News, 19/3/08). Three days later, a South African Revenue Services report was leaked to Talk Radio 702 which apparently revealed that the SAPS is ‘in denial about the existence of syndicates at the airport and that the police do not have an effective crime prevention strategy’ (The Cape Argus, 22/3/08).
Based on the number of cases of people being robbed after leaving the airport, it seems obvious that there is a problem, and that it’s linked to the airport. Rather than attempting to fudge the issue with debates about what constitutes ‘organised crime’, how to define a ‘syndicate’, and whether customs officials are involved, the police and ACSA need to develop a holistic strategy. Such a strategy would need to extend from cargo handling, to baggage handling, to better screening and control of airport transport and taxi services, to visible police patrols in domestic and international arrival terminals, to undercover and intelligence driven operations and surveillance.
It seems that the SAPS has the lion’s share of the work in this regard. It is worth remembering that in 2006 Paul O’Sullivan was accused by then police commissioner Jackie Selebi of being behind a ‘smear campaign’ against him. (Many of the allegations made by O’Sullivan relate to the charges that have since been brought against Selebi and which resulted in his suspension as national commissioner.) O’Sullivan’s disagreement with Selebi, which goes way back to 2001, started over the issue of security at what was then Johannesburg International Airport. O’Sullivan, who was head of security for ACSA, had only been in his job for a matter of weeks when he realised that security at South Africa’s busiest airport was far from adequate. After reviewing the situation he terminated the contract of the company responsible for security and – without going into the details – that was when his conflict with Selebi started.
The point is, whether it’s highly organised or just a little organised, and whether customs officials are involved or not, the problem of airport (in)security is not new, nor does it seem to be improving. Given O’Sullivan’s experience, which resulted in his being fired from his job at ACSA and two attempts on his life, the problem is certainly a complex one.
Antoinette Louw, Research Fellow, Crime and Justice Programme, ISS Tshwane (Pretoria)
Fin24.com, Sep 17 2004
Iol.co.za, July 03 2006
Mail&Guardian online, 10 Nov 2006
capeargus.co.za, December 22, 2007
