The Guvnor
13th Jan 2002, 06:22
From today's Sunday Times:
[quote]Gunmen hound airport bosses
MZILIKAZI WA AFRIKA JESSICA BEZUIDENHOUT and RAFORA RANGONGO
Paul O'Sullivan, the head of security at South Africa's main airports, is being hunted down by gunmen who want him dead.
On Friday morning, while he was driving on Johannesburg's N12 highway, men in a red Volkswagen Golf drove up next to him and fired a shot at him. The bullet smashed through the passenger window and passed within centimetres of his body.
This was the second attempt on O'Sullivan's life in the past five weeks: on December 6, two men driving a red Golf and wearing balaclavas tried to shoot him at an intersection near his office.
As group executive in charge of aviation security at the Airports Company of South Africa, he is responsible for security at 10 major airports. The attacks follow a series of crackdowns on organised crime syndicates operating at Johannesburg International Airport, the gateway to South Africa.
At least R200-million in foreign currency has been stolen from the airport since September last year.
O'Sullivan refused to elaborate on security breaches at the airport, saying that would violate the Aviation Security Act.
However, the Sunday Times has established that the crackdowns that led to O'Sullivan being in danger are:
- Clamping down on a syndicate smuggling illegal immigrants out of the airport. In one case he caught a cleaner with an illegal Pakistani in a rubbish bin as he was being wheeled out of the building;
- Refusing cleaners' and security guards' permits after he found them trading in dollars. That effectively meant they were barred from working at the airport;
- Preventing a suitcase loaded with $330 000 from being smuggled out of the country;
- Closing down some illegal valet parking operators, who employed bouncers to protect them from airport security guards;
- The arrest of an entire shift of security guards after they were caught stealing 350 cellphones that had been imported; and
- The dismissal of baggage handlers who were stealing out of passengers' suitcases.
O'Sullivan's boss, Mashudu Ramano, chairman of the Airports Company and chief executive officer of Johnnic Publishing, the publisher of the Sunday Times, also came under attack when gunmen gained access to his Johannesburg property in September. A gun battle ensued between his bodyguards and a gang in a white Opel Astra.
Both men now live in fear of their lives as they try to hide from those who want them dead.
The attacks come in the wake of a bitter battle over a R99-million security contract at South African airports. Both O'Sullivan and Ramano were instrumental in getting Khuselani Security and Risk Management fired by the Airports Company board in September.
In November, Khuselani lost a Johannesburg High Court bid to challenge the cancellation of its contract. Just 24 hours later, Ramano was arrested at a Johannesburg hotel on suspicion of being an illegal immigrant.
"I have been told that the case is now completed and has gone to Home Affairs. I am a South African with nothing to hide. This charge was purely a smear campaign against me," he said.
Ramano believes certain state agencies are being used against him. "I live in constant fear that at any time I can be killed . . . What do you do when you know state resources are being used against you?"
He said he was also accused of taking a bribe to get rid of Khuselani.
Khuselani director Noel Ngwenya said he knows "nothing about what has happened". <hr></blockquote>
[quote]Gunmen hound airport bosses
MZILIKAZI WA AFRIKA JESSICA BEZUIDENHOUT and RAFORA RANGONGO
Paul O'Sullivan, the head of security at South Africa's main airports, is being hunted down by gunmen who want him dead.
On Friday morning, while he was driving on Johannesburg's N12 highway, men in a red Volkswagen Golf drove up next to him and fired a shot at him. The bullet smashed through the passenger window and passed within centimetres of his body.
This was the second attempt on O'Sullivan's life in the past five weeks: on December 6, two men driving a red Golf and wearing balaclavas tried to shoot him at an intersection near his office.
As group executive in charge of aviation security at the Airports Company of South Africa, he is responsible for security at 10 major airports. The attacks follow a series of crackdowns on organised crime syndicates operating at Johannesburg International Airport, the gateway to South Africa.
At least R200-million in foreign currency has been stolen from the airport since September last year.
O'Sullivan refused to elaborate on security breaches at the airport, saying that would violate the Aviation Security Act.
However, the Sunday Times has established that the crackdowns that led to O'Sullivan being in danger are:
- Clamping down on a syndicate smuggling illegal immigrants out of the airport. In one case he caught a cleaner with an illegal Pakistani in a rubbish bin as he was being wheeled out of the building;
- Refusing cleaners' and security guards' permits after he found them trading in dollars. That effectively meant they were barred from working at the airport;
- Preventing a suitcase loaded with $330 000 from being smuggled out of the country;
- Closing down some illegal valet parking operators, who employed bouncers to protect them from airport security guards;
- The arrest of an entire shift of security guards after they were caught stealing 350 cellphones that had been imported; and
- The dismissal of baggage handlers who were stealing out of passengers' suitcases.
O'Sullivan's boss, Mashudu Ramano, chairman of the Airports Company and chief executive officer of Johnnic Publishing, the publisher of the Sunday Times, also came under attack when gunmen gained access to his Johannesburg property in September. A gun battle ensued between his bodyguards and a gang in a white Opel Astra.
Both men now live in fear of their lives as they try to hide from those who want them dead.
The attacks come in the wake of a bitter battle over a R99-million security contract at South African airports. Both O'Sullivan and Ramano were instrumental in getting Khuselani Security and Risk Management fired by the Airports Company board in September.
In November, Khuselani lost a Johannesburg High Court bid to challenge the cancellation of its contract. Just 24 hours later, Ramano was arrested at a Johannesburg hotel on suspicion of being an illegal immigrant.
"I have been told that the case is now completed and has gone to Home Affairs. I am a South African with nothing to hide. This charge was purely a smear campaign against me," he said.
Ramano believes certain state agencies are being used against him. "I live in constant fear that at any time I can be killed . . . What do you do when you know state resources are being used against you?"
He said he was also accused of taking a bribe to get rid of Khuselani.
Khuselani director Noel Ngwenya said he knows "nothing about what has happened". <hr></blockquote>