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The IFP has slammed the lack of control of SAA management after reports that a Nigerian syndicate has infiltrated the carrier's call centre to scam thousands of unsuspecting people. The IFP said in a statement on Thursday it is "appalled" at reports of R14m credit card fraud at South African Airways. The political party was reacting to a report in The Star newspaper that a Nigerian syndicate had infiltrated the national airline and is colluding with its staff in scamming thousands of unsuspecting people. According to the Johannesburg newspaper, forensic investigators have discovered that between January and August 2006, call centre staff at flysaa.com have helped the syndicate to process 1 949 fraudulent transactions, costing the national carrier more than R14m.

The syndicate has apparently recruited several staff at the call centre to help them buy airline tickets using unsuspecting international tourists' credit cards, which they sell to a third party at half the price, the article says. "The lack of control and concern by management is shocking. This new humiliation could be another reason why SAA finds itself in such a dismal financial state," said Hennie Bekker, IFP spokesperson on public enterprises. This follows the party's lashing out at the airline for apparently injecting R100m into its directors' coffers while profits at the company plunged. SAA later denied this, saying that the IFP had gotten the wrong year. According to The Star, police have arrested several "runners" who said they worked for a Nigerian man in London. The newspaper also quoted investigators as saying that the syndicate also used tickets to move drug mules and human traffic around. SAA said in response that investigations are underway but details of the probe involving staff cannot be divulged. The IFP called for "an immediate system overhaul, as well as a thorough investigation into the level of corruption among the call centre staff".

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