{"id":879583,"date":"2026-10-13T14:35:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T12:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=879583"},"modified":"2026-10-13T14:57:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T12:57:08","slug":"warning-to-anyone-checking-in-bags-at-or-tambo-king-shaka-and-cape-town-international","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/879583\/warning-to-anyone-checking-in-bags-at-or-tambo-king-shaka-and-cape-town-international\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning to anyone checking in bags at OR Tambo, King Shaka, and Cape Town International"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Police records show that 1,823 total baggage theft cases were formally registered across OR Tambo, King Shaka and Cape Town International airports over the last three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to a Parliamentary Q&A about criminal activity at the country’s major airports, the Acting Minister of Police, Firoz Cachalia, reported that general baggage theft accounted for the majority of reported incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1,823 theft dockets include all criminal theft cases formally registered with the South African Police Service (SAPS) across the three major airports over the last three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The highest number of baggage theft cases was recorded at OR Tambo International Airport, with 1,369 incidents reported from 2023 to 2026, accounting for the majority of the total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in crime administration data for OR Tambo, all baggage-related theft and pilferage incidents are categorised under general theft cases, whereas at Cape Town and King Shaka airports, these are recorded separately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cape Town International Airport recorded 306 cases of total baggage theft over the last three years, which is notably lower than OR Tambo International Airport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

King Shaka International Airport reported 148 formal general baggage theft cases during the same period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baggage pilferage, the illegal act of stealing personal items from a person’s checked luggage during transit, is excluded from the 1,823 theft count for Cape Town and King Shaka International airports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past three years, Cape Town Airport has reported 241 cases of baggage pilferage, while King Shaka Airport has recorded 105 cases during the same period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAPS emphasised that these figures only cover formally reported and registered cases, and exclude unreported luggage losses, items handled internally by airlines, and airport operator internal investigations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing the theft problem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To combat luggage theft across major airports, Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), SAPS, and the Ministry of Transport have collaborated to implement a prevention and enforcement strategy to continuously monitor recurring theft patterns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ACSA established the Airport Baggage Pilferage Prevention Working Group in partnership with the Airline Operators Committee (AOC), the Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa (BARSA), and the South African Police Service (SAPS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Working Group provides a coordinated, multi-stakeholder approach to identifying, mitigating, and monitoring baggage pilferage risks across the end-to-end baggage handling process,” said the Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creecy explained that the scope of the new strategy includes oversight and intervention across various areas, including :<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Passenger check-in and baggage drop-off areas.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Baggage sorting, processing, and conveyor systems.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Baggage screening and security control points.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Aircraft loading and unloading operations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Baggage reclaim facilities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Inter-terminal baggage transfers<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Staff access controls and movement within restricted areas.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Contractor and third-party personnel involved in baggage handling operations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    She highlighted that the primary responsibility for handling investigations, processing claims, and providing passenger compensation lies with the relevant airline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This is because the airline acts as the official legal custodian of checked luggage throughout transit, via its contracted ground-handling service providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    While the ACSA does not directly handle passenger baggage claims, Creecy highlighted that it supports the process through several security actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This includes reviewing CCTV footage and security access logs with the South African Police Service (SAPS), airlines, and ground handlers whenever criminal activity is suspected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Creecy reported that the ACSA also conducts targeted security reviews to identify operational weaknesses in restricted baggage-handling areas, upgrades access-control barriers, increases physical security patrols, expands camera surveillance, and conducts targeted staff inspections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    She said that it also assists SAPS with criminal investigations and supports internal disciplinary proceedings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    She highlighted that the ACSA does not pay direct financial compensation to passengers unless specific liability on the part of the airport operator is proven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When negligence, theft, or liability is established against an airline, ground handler, or worker, ACSA collaborates with stakeholders to assist passengers through formal claims processes, investigation support, stakeholder coordination, and corrective or disciplinary enforcement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Over the last three years, baggage theft at three of South Africa’s main airports has climbed to nearly 2,000 cases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":856264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2109986524380955103","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2235820813904984","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18098979344532188","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[9052,13796,19768,19767,5784],"class_list":["post-879583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-airports-company-south-africa","tag-cape-town-international-airport","tag-king-shaka-international-airport","tag-or-tambo-international-airport","tag-south-african-police-service-saps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=879583"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":879629,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879583\/revisions\/879629"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=879583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=879583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=879583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}