OR Tambo – praag.org

Johannesburg airport robbers arrested

The National Commissioner of the South African Police Service, General Khehla John Sitole, has welcomed the arrest on 21 February of suspects believed to have been involved in cases of robbery of people being followed from the O. R. Tambo International Airport and praised members for their sterling work.

This morning, members from the National Investigation Unit (NINU) together with members of O. R. Tambo International Airport and the SAPS Flying Squad, acting on intelligence, arrested four men in Alexandra Township outside Johannesburg. The suspects were allegedly planning a robbery when our team pounced on them as they were changing the number plates on their sedan. However, three suspects managed to flee, initiating a high speed chase and a shootout between the suspects and the police. The suspect’s vehicle swerved off the road, crashing to a halt.

Four suspects were arrested of which one was shot and wounded. Our team also recovered at least two handguns. The National Commissioner, in praising the SAPS team for this significant success said, “I am very pleased with the progress we are making to significantly reduce this category of crime but more importantly I am equally pleased that our proactive strategy is yielding positive results”.

These suspects are believed to have been involved in multiple cases of people being followed from the OR Tambo Airport and robbed. The firearms will be sent for ballistic testing to determine if they have been used in the commission of crimes.

“We appeal to anyone who may have any information on crime are requested to please contact our Crime Stop number 086 00 10111. All callers may remain anonymous and all information will be treated with strictest confidence,” the police said in a statement.

No water at OR Tambo

There was no water supply at Africa’s biggest airport, OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, on Friday morning due to water pipe connection problems, the Airports Company of SA said.

“This problem has affected one section of the airport, flights are not affected at all. The functioning of toilets has as a result been affected,” said Acsa spokesman Collen Naidoo.

The airport management had to shut down the water supply to enable engineers to fix the problem, he said.

Travellers complained about unavailability of water at the airport on social media.

Some complained that most restaurants did not have beverages such as coffee available due to water shortage.

Naidoo said the situation was temporary and would be fixed very soon.

Source: ANA

Planes grounded after attempted cable theft

Fuelling of aircrafts at OR Tambo International Airport resumed after an attempted cable theft caused flights to be delayed

“The incident has inconvenienced our passengers and airline partners. “Passengers are advised to contact their airlines for revised times and relevant information.” The SA Airways spokesman Tlali Tlali said his company was notified about the delays and apologised to customers.

“Whilst the situation is out of the airline’s control and has affected all flights across the board, SAA nonetheless would like to apologise to all our customers for the inconvenience caused by this incident,” Tlali Tlali said in a statement.

The backlog created by the interruptions would take a while to bring operations back to normal as per the schedule, despite fuel supplies having resumed, he said.

“Every effort is being made to reduce the effect on later flights which are mostly international. The impact of the interruptions was in the form of flights being delayed by up to two hours in some cases.” – Sapa

Former minister followed from airport and robbed

The former deputy minister of finance, Mr Jabu Moleketi, was allegedly followed from the airport and robbed outside his home in Observatory on July 20.

The former minister was with his son when the incident occurred.

Two suspects jumped out of a vehicle and went to Mr Moleketis vehicle with firearms. Mr Moleketi managed to run to the house and called the police, said Constable Thabo Malatji from the Yeoville SAPS.

The men took cellular phones and luggage from the vehicle and fled the scene. This robbery is one of several incidents reported to SAPS where people were followed from the airport and robbed either at their homes or local hotels.

Some of the recent cases that were reported include the vice-consul of Angola and the delegation he was with, who were robbed at a hotel in Bruma.

The latest incident took place on Monday last week. A security guard was shot during a robbery at another hotel in Bruma. Constable Mpho Mashakane, Cleveland SAPS communications officer, said a man and his friend left the OR Tambo Airport to go to the hotel they were booked in. They drove into the premises and parked the car.

While offloading their luggage three men approached them and demanded their belongings.

When the robbers tried to exit the building, the security guard refused to open the boom gate. They shot him in the thigh and fled.

Looklocal also reported on several incidents of people being followed from the airport. At least two incidents are reported to police every week.

Provincial SAPS spokesperson, Brigadier Neville Malila, said that there is a task team investigating these crimes. Yet they continue to occur.

Mr Malila was contacted for comment and he referred looklocal to Lieutenant Colonel Lungelo Dlamini, spokesperson for the Gauteng SAPS.

At this stage it is not clear whether the former minister was followed from the airport but police will investigate that possibility. Investigations in the case of the former minister are continuing and no arrests have been made, said Lt Col Dlamini.

He said members of the Hawks investigate all cases involving people who are followed from the airport.

Several people were arrested in the past, he said. Looklocal asked him if syndicates are involved in these incidents. At this stage this office is not aware of a syndicate operating from the airport, explained Lt Col Dlamini.

He said cases that were investigated in the past involved foreign nationals who alleged they were followed from the airport. There are police vehicles that are static on all major highways in the province. Therefore, police will respond to those incidents quicker, said Lt Col Dlamini. – looklocal.co.za