Tourists targeted by airport criminals?

NUMEROUS reports have surfaced about passengers leaving Ortia being followed to their destination and being attacked and robbed of their possessions and luggage. The latest victim was Dumisani Kumalo, SA’s ambassador to the UN, attacked at his home in Greenside on July 21. He told The Star newspaper the robbers knew he had come from the airport as they had demanded he open his car’s boot and give them his luggage. Another incident, confirmed by Allan Duke, group marketing services director of Protea Hotels occurred on July 15 when a group of foreign tourists were robbed in the reception area of the Protea Wanderers, Johannesburg. Duke said Protea Hotels takes incidents of this nature very seriously and that improving security is dealt with and checked on a daily basis. “Security is 100% on the daily agenda, and this includes gate control, internal control and CCTV.” Duke added that it was not only international tourists who were being targeted but that it seemed to be happening to anyone leaving the airport, including South Africans returning to their homes. Solomon Makgale, Acsa’s group executive corporate affairs, said the crimes were being investigated by the police. He said although Acsa was concerned about the incidents there were no plans to step up security regarding this issue as the crimes occur outside of the airport. Michael Tatalias, ceo of SATSA, said this was a disturbing new development. He added that tourism partners need to work together to find a solution. He also said the tourism sector should review its security procedures to ensure that their customers didn’t fall prey to criminals. Brought to you by TravelHub… Chana Viljoen (chanav@nowmedia.co.za)