Following the bombings in London on Thursday, in which more than 50 people died and about 700 were injured, Johannesburg residents can rest assured that there are preventative measures in place in the city if ever it should experience a sudden urban terror attack.
Police spokesperson Superintendent Chris Wilken said there is no guarantee that something similar to the events in London will not happen in Johannesburg.
However, since the attacks on London occurred, there have been ”no alerts as far as I know” in Johannesburg, he told the Mail & Guardian Online on Friday.
”It’s easy to fight an enemy if we know who we are fighting. [Urban terrorists] are the most difficult thing to prevent,” said Wilken.
Regarding Johannesburg’s preventative measures that are in place currently, Wilken said: ”We have the police, disaster management and a lot of other people that play a role in this. I just hope that if something like this happens there’ll be more than two ambulances available.”
”I don’t think there’s any reason for Johannesburg to be concerned about attacks. As far as I’m concerned, we’ll handle something like that,” he said.
Wilken added that if people come across a suspicious-looking parcel, they should have the area evacuated immediately and call Tel: 10111.
Inspector Dennis Adriao, spokesperson of the national police commissioner, said: ”It’s a matter of standard practice that we continue to monitor the safety and security situation. We do have measures in place, but I cannot elaborate on them.”
He added that police do make the public aware of suspicious-looking parcels and objects in national key areas such as airports and various government buildings.
”We do have specific structures in place in case of specific incidences.
”People can be rest assured that we are safe … There are structures in place that involve other major role players” such as ambulance and fire services, said Adriao.
Jacqui O’Sullivan, communications manager at Johannesburg International airport, told the M&G Online that the airport warns people every three minutes that they should be aware of their belongings and report any misplaced bags to the authorities.
”We have police patrolling the airport [and we will be introducing] specially trained airport security at the airport that have been trained on specific things,” said O’Sullivan.
She added that if the security officers come across anything suspicious, the police are immediately called.
”They cordoned off the area. Sniffer dogs are brought through and, if necessary, the bomb unit is called.”