‘Stellar airport security’… but what about thieving staff?

Many South African air passengers who have lost valuables because their baggage has been pilfered by workers at airports must have been surprised to hear that a senior official of the United States Transport Safety Administration (TSA) thinks SA airport security is top-class.

Chris Hadinger, TSA representative in Southern Africa, told defenceWeb that security at SA’s airports – both in Johannesburg and in the smaller centres – is “stellar”.

While there can be no questioning Hadinger’s expertise in the field – the TSA is, after all, probably the world leader in aviation surveillance and security – The Citizen wonders that no one has pointed out to him the baggage pilfering which, despite numerous efforts over the years, doesn’t seem to have got any better.

The reality is that if baggage workers can steal items from bags, surely there is opportunity for foreign objects – like bombs – to be inserted into luggage before it is loaded on to an aircraft.

Unless we are missing something here …

The fact that the thieving cannot be curtailed through the use of state-of-the-art electronic surveillance tools is worrying.

And so, too, is the impact this has on SA’s reputation as a safe country to visit.

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