CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
|
South Africa |
VIOLENCE
Major international airlines have placed an embargo on flying valuable cargo into South Africa’s busiest international airport, Johannesburg.
Poor security and violence are to be blamed for their decisionThe decision comes in the wake of recent security breaches at Johannesburg International Airport. Security managers from KLM, Virgin Airlines, Lufthansa, Air France and Swissair, have been meeting at various times with the police and the Airport Company of South Africa (ACSA) to discuss their concerns.
Reacting to this, the transport authorities and the safety and security department have called on the South African Police Service (SAPS) to assume maximum responsibility as guardians of airport security in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg international airports. A joint command at Johannesburg International, under the leadership of the Department of Safety and Security, has been established.
Various officials from departments such as home affairs, revenue services, crime intelligence and national intelligence, civil aviation have been deployed to the command centre. This integrated, multi-agency approach, where all relevant departments view crime prevention as a shared responsibility and collective priority, is intended to minimise inter-department rivalry and tackle the incidence of corrupt officials assisting illegal immigrants and crime syndicates to enter the country in order to carry out their operations.
Johannesburg International is a hub for business travel, air cargo, and a transit stop for further destinations in Southern Africa. Previous to the decision mentioned above, security at the airport was the sole responsibility of the ACSA.
The ACSA‘s chief of aviation security, Paul O’Sullivan, has now terminated the contract of Khuselani Security & Risk Management. The private security firm had been awarded a 99 million rand, three-year contract in June 2000. Lax security procedures by Khuselani guards includes their failure to detect a fake bomb, and six days after the two planes crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York, a passenger carrying a loaded firearm strolled through airport security and boarded a British Airways flight.
Crime
The same month, a group of robbers wearing reflector jackets cut through a gate, walked onto the restricted «airside area» and robbed security personnel of radios, car keys and a hand gun. Crime has become an increasing problem at South Africa’s airports despite ACSA spending about US $3.8 million a year on security.
Since July 2001, gangs have carried out five similar armed robberies or attempted robberies. In one unsuccessful attempt, a Lufthansa freight handler was shot dead. On 31 August, in one of the two successful robberies, an armed gang posing as airport staff, made off with cash and jewels worth $7m from a Swissair freight container after it was unloaded.
The largest airport robbery to-date, took place on 27 December 2001, when up to a dozen armed gangsters, some wearing reflective airport clothing, made off with a valuable cargo of US currency, diamonds, and jewellery. The consignment had been shipped from Israel through Amsterdam to Johannesburg, on KLM flight 593. Four members of the gang have been arrested in a hotel in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The SAPS is treating the case as an international crime. The operation between the Zimbabwean and South African police was carried out under the auspices of the South African Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation organization (SARPCCO). And investigators are looking at the possibility that the gang could be working with employees of private security companies operating at the airport. A significant number of employees in private security companies are nationals from South Africa’s neighbours.
Complex security system
The sheer number of people using Johannesburg Airport (11.5 million each year) presents a host of challenges in security and crime prevention. Also, 18,500 people are employed at the airport by the ACSA, its concessionaires and various contractors. Measures are being taken to overhaul the permit system that allows people into various parts of the airport. Recently, 6,000 permits were cancelled. A crime-free environment at South Africa’s main international gateway, is all-important for encouraging foreign investors and tourists.
The security situation at Johannesburg International is complex, as the airlines, the ACSA and its concessionaires all have their own security personnel. The boundary between the «airside» and «landside» areas at the airport is virtually an international border and requires special security treatment. People working «airside» at Johannesburg International airport could be searched, and nobody is allowed to take goods through access points.
Recent air disasters have highlighted that safety on the ground at airports is as important as safety in the air.
The ACSA says safety and security for all airport users is «non-negotiable». Among important safety initiatives — new category II and category III instrument-landing systems from Germany, similar to those installed at Europe’s major airports, have been installed at Johannesburg and Cape Town International Airports.
In the light of statistics that more than 80% of aircraft accidents occur during take-off or landing, the ACSA has been implementing measures to further enhance airside safety. «With the airlines, we have agreed to purchase new security equipment for the screening of passengers, with built-in “threat image projection,” as well as state-of-the-art multi-zone archway metal detectors that are quicker and more accurate than the present generation machines,» says Monhla Hlahla, the ACSA‘s chief executive officer.
At Johannesburg International Airport, vehicles that service aircraft are checked for speeding offenses or failure to obey traffic signs. Roadworthiness checks are also carried out on vehicles on the airport apron. The ACSA has stepped up runway inspections to prevent any possibility of debris impeding aircraft.
The inspection teams also check for cracks or potholes in the runway’s asphalt surface; as well as seeing that all runway lights are operational. In October last year, the ACSA took delivery of five modern fire-fighting vehicles supplied by a German and Austrian consortium — for use at Johannesburg International, Durban, Bloemfontein, Cape Town and George airports.
Hopefully, recent action taken by the airport’s security authorities will guarantee the safety of all who pass through the gates of Johannesburg International.
- James Brew, South Africa, March 2002 — © Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgment
ENGLISH CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
PeaceLink 2002 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement