OR Tambo International Airport (Ortia) has acknowledged widespread media reports that airport insiders were involved in criminal activities, noting that it was working on identifying staff who are allegedly involved in assisting criminals in syndicates.
The freight industry has expressed concern that the number of heists in and around Ortia seems to be increasing, with Alwyn Rautenbach, chairman of the Air Cargo Operators’ Committee (Acoc), telling FTW Online’s sister publication, FTW, earlier this year that there had been a number of other robberies at the airport, some of which also involved the use of police uniforms.
He said the modus operandi during the robberies pointed to some form of insider collusion as gaining access to the loading apron would require access cards.