South Africa’s OR Tambo Airport Moves to Protect Visitors

Visitors arriving at South Africa’s OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg will no longer have to give customs officials their address in South Africa from next week, despite assurances on Tuesday by police that there was no evidence that syndicates based at the airport were robbing passengers.

South African Revenue Service (SARS) general manager and chairman of the border control operational co-ordinating committee (BCOCC), Gene Ravele, said that a decision had been made to remove the address box from customer forms at OR Tambo from March 17 as a precaution.

“In Gauteng, we are removing the address field from forms. This is not because we believe there is a problem with crime at the airport but to eliminate this as a possible cause,” said Ravele.

It is mandatory for customs officials at airports to request the addresses of people visiting the country, which makes Tuesday’s decision an usual one.

Changes to the forms were announced at a news conference Tuesday at the airport by SARS, the BCOCC, the police and the Airports Company South Africa to quell rumors that foreign visitors, and those from African countries in particular, were being robbed after being followed to their destination from the airport.

The most recent incident, on Friday, involved six American tourists who were robbed at their Observatory guesthouse as they arrived from the airport.

Concern about the incidents prompted the US to place a warning on its website for its citizens.

Senior Supt Vishnu Naidoo said Tuesday none of the cases investigated by the police had revealed that passenger information was being leaked to criminals by anyone at the airport, suggesting that such media reports were “irresponsible and did damage” to South Africa’s reputation abroad.

Source African Press Agency

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