Heist casts spotlight on Ortia security breaches

The freight industry
has voiced its concern
about the impunity with
which the robbery at OR
Tambo last Tuesday was
carried out. Chairman of
the Air Cargo Operators’
Committee (Acoc), Alwyn
Rautenbach, is concerned
about the fact that police
uniforms were used in the
crime. “From the point of
view of Acoc, this brazen
heist is a huge concern to
the industry,” Rautenbach
told FTW.
He said there
had been a
number of other
robberies at OR
Tambo, some
of which also
involved the
use of police
uniforms. To
gain access to
the loading
apron would
have required
access cards and
knowledge of
the movements
of the security
company and
what f lights
were involved. “All of this
points to collusion with
someone working in these
organisations,” he added.
Kalyani Pillay, CEO
of the South African
Banking Risk Information
Centre, told FTW the
number of cash-intransit
heists had been
increasing. “During
2016, Sabric recorded
269 cash-in-transit
incidents nationally
compared with 249 in
2015. “The airport heist is
an extension of the ongoing
problem of conventional
cash-in-transit robberies.
That a secure site and
national key point such as
OR Tambo can be robbed
with comparative ease
indicates that the robbery
was executed with the help
of ‘inside’ information.”
On March 7 at 19h23,
a Guardforce van
transporting a substantial
amount of foreign
currency, which was to
be loaded onto an SAA
aircraft bound for London,
was robbed by a wellorganised
gang.
Shortly before this, the
gang had driven up to the
security checkpoint in a
bakkie, which had police
markings, along with two
white passenger vehicles.
The vehicles had sirens and
blue lights, which had been
switched on and some of
the robbers were in police
uniform.
It has been reported
that the robbers knew
exactly which containers
were holding the currency.
These were loaded into
the vehicles, which swiftly
left the airport. Estimates
of the amount stolen,
consigned by a local bank,
are as high as R200
million.
INSERT
To gain access to the
loading apron would
have required access
cards and knowledge
of the movements of
the security company
and what flights were
involved.
– Alwyn Rautenbach