Mbalula ‘losing sleep’ over crime at OR Tambo
POLICE Minister Fikile Mbalula told MPs yesterday they would “collapse” if they were to discover the full extent of crime at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport.
Appearing before the police portfolio committee, Mbalula painted a grim picture of crime at the country’s busiest airport, which is also a national key point.
He said it gave him sleepless nights and he had now asked acting national police commissioner Lesetja Mothiba to treat lax security at the OR Tambo airport as a matter of urgency.
“Where police are erring we need to act on that,” he said.
“We are not only concerned about police corruption and docket disappearance‚ the recycling of criminals in the system.
“Our approach is more operational.
“Yesterday, before I came here I went to SAA [at OR Tambo]‚ our national key point.
“I didn’t sleep and I immediately talked to the general. “If you had to know what is happening there you would collapse.”
The airport has seen several security breaches recently even though it has a highly visible police presence because it is a key point.
The most prominent breach was a brazen cash heist in March where millions of rands were stolen‚ allegedly with the help of some police officers. Formally introducing Mothiba to MPs since his acting appointment by President Jacob Zuma last week‚ Mbalula said poor security at OR Tambo would no longer be allowed.
He said in the “geopolitical environment” that we lived in‚ the country would be “embarrassed securitywise if we leave the situation as it is in some of these national key points”.