Syndicates target pax at OR Tambo

SYNDICATES, involving several
employees at OR Tambo are
allegedly extorting money from
passengers, sources close to
TNW have said.
Earlier this month, Gloria
Ntombi Sidumo, SAA
customer services agent at
the Interline Transit Desk,
was arrested, with security
officer, Themba Lekgwareng,
for allegedly extorting money
from a passenger. “Gloria is
alleged to have charged the
complainant a fee for changing
her flight tickets after she
was refused entry to SA by
Immigration on arrival from
Abuja. She never issued the
customer with any receipts,”
says SAA spokesperson, Tlali
Tlali.
Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo, who
works in the task team fighting
corruption at OR Tambo, told
TNW these kind of operations
have been ongoing at Ortia.
“We have even arrested
our own police officers who
have targeted foreigners at
the airport – they would look
at [passengers’] passports
and then threaten them with
incarceration,” he says.
The same team arrested
Jules Musakale, employed as
a customer services agent for
SAA at the International Transit
Desk, for aiding and abetting
three illegal immigrants a
month earlier.
Vishnu says: “If someone
tries to solicit money from
passengers for whatever
reason, they must refuse to
pay and immediately go to the
police station at the airport
and report the incident.” He
says passengers could also
report incidents to uniformed
officers patrolling the airport.
However, Vishnu advises
travellers to be wary of police
who might try to solicit money
or misdirect them when they
want to report an incident.
SAA has subsequently
suspended Gloria and Jules
pending the outcome of both
an internal investigation and
the SAPS case.
Acsa was unavailable for
comment at the time of going
to print.