South Africa’s airports authorities refused to say on Sunday when they would fix a security lapse at the Johannesburg International Airport.
”We are not at liberty to discuss our operational plan,” Airports Company of SA representative Jacqui O’Sullivan said to Sapa.
Her reaction came after the Civil Aviation Authority gave Acsa a deadline to sort out the security lapse which occurred during a regular security check on Thursday.
The Sunday Times newspaper reported that two ”bombs” were smuggled past guards and onto the airside operations of South Africa’s largest airport.
It did not say whether the ”bombs” had travelled through the airport building in passenger luggage or had been placed in aircraft or vehicles entering the facility.
CAA chief executive officer Trevor Abrahams confirmed that guards at the airport failed to detect the two ”bombs”. The CAA gave Acsa a deadline to sort this issue out, he said.
But he refused to tell Sapa until when was Acsa given to respond to the security failure.
”We brought this to the attention of the airport management, and they have been given a period to sort this out,” said Abrahams.
The security test was carried when over 100 government leaders were arriving at the airport to attend the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
Asked whether the security lapse was not of concern to the CAA in the light of the international arrivals, Abrahams said: ”It is not relating to the event. What you want to write is entirely your thing.” – Sapa