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A view of OR Tambo International Airport.
The Senior Training Coordinator at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), Willem Els says the O.R Tambo International Airport has become a major trafficking hub for organised crime syndicates.
His comments come after the Border Management Authority (BMA) on Friday intercepted a suspected human trafficking operation resulting in the arrest of 30 illegal foreigners.
According to the BMA, 16 of the 30 passengers were Bangladeshi nationals and 14 were Ethiopian.
Els says socio-economic challenges such as high unemployment, poverty and corruption make the country vulnerable to criminal activity.
“We see that your porous borders especially at the OR Tambo Airport that is in question now – that it’s for long been a target by your organised crime syndicates because of opportunity, because of the under resources and also the understaffed nature of our authorities there. But, also the very high levels of corruption that is prevalent there. So, these syndicates use big amounts of money and then they exploit the vulnerability of the state embedded actors there. And at the end of the day, they seem to be one step ahead of law enforcement as always,” says Els.
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