Johannesburg — Just months before South Africa hosts the world’s most powerful leaders at the G20 Summit, Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) has plunged the nation into an aviation security crisis. The July 2025 insourcing of security officers — trumpeted as a cost-saving reform — has instead exposed staggering levels of negligence, incompetence, and political protection at the highest levels.
The Failed Rollout: Chaos at OR Tambo
On 1 July 2025, ACSA began insourcing aviation security across its network. Within hours, the experiment collapsed:
- Understaffed checkpoints left critical access points exposed.
- Missing firearms rendered officers unable to respond to armed threats.
- Non-compliant staff, many without updated SACAA certification, were deployed.
- Unqualified recruits, including individuals previously dismissed for theft, were rehired without proper vetting.
- Basic equipment shortages — radios, handheld detectors, and screening tools — forced officers to share devices, crippling operational control.
Deployment was so badly mishandled that the entire security function at OR Tambo International was stripped from ACSA’s security division and handed to the AGM: Airport Operations. This drastic move exposed the failure of Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Mzwandile Petros and the cadre of retired generals who continue to draw salaries while contributing little to actual operations.
Cadre Deployment Over Competence
The appointment of Hlula Msimang, a scandal-ridden former Metro Police chief with no aviation background, is a glaring insult to both the industry and the public. Installed to champion ‘smart detection systems,’ Msimang embodies the worst of cadre deployment — recycled figures with political ties but no expertise.
Meanwhile, CEO Mpumi Mpofu continues to minimise disasters, publicly dismissing July’s chaos as ‘minor operational issues.’ This echoes her earlier downplaying of the OR Tambo fuel crisis and raises further doubts over her own academic qualifications, long clouded in controversy.
Training Gaps and Regulatory Non-Compliance
The rushed rollout left glaring weaknesses:
- Officers without updated SACAA training certificates.
- Staff not trained to operate advanced screening systems.
- Deployment confusion leaving posts unmanned and procedures ignored.
These lapses not only endanger passengers but also expose ACSA to severe regulatory penalties and legal liability. The absence of firearms in particular has been condemned by experts as reckless — a failure that leaves airports dangerously unprepared for armed threats.
Financial Fallout: A R2.5 Billion Disaster
Far from reducing costs, the insourcing project has created a financial sinkhole:
- R2.5 billion in projected costs over five years.
- A bloated R500 million annual wage bill, almost double that of outsourced contracts.
- Additional overtime expenses, legal liabilities, and collapsing efficiency.
- On top of this, ACSA reported R333 million in irregular expenditure from existing contracts and procurement irregularities in the past financial year, most of it tied to security.
Insourcing has proven more expensive and less effective — the worst of both worlds.
Reckless Push into Hold Baggage Screening (HBS)
Despite the meltdown at OR Tambo, ACSA is pushing to insource Hold Baggage Screening (HBS) — the most critical layer of aviation security. Experts warn this is reckless endangerment:
- HBS demands world-class systems and compliance.
- ACSA has already failed basic screening and access control.
- Legal disputes and regulatory concerns are mounting.
Instead of learning from failure, ACSA is doubling down, gambling with national and international aviation safety.
Crumbling Infrastructure: A National Embarrassment
Beyond security, South Africa’s airports are in visible decline:
- Escalators idle for months, elevators breaking down.
- Public toilets filthy and decrepit, undermining basic dignity.
- Baggage systems collapsing, most notably during the 2023 Christmas rush.
- Jet fuel failures in 2022 and 2024 grounding flights while promised bypass systems were delayed.
ACSA’s profit headlines mask these failures, which directly threaten the success of the G20 Summit.
The G20 Summit: A Ticking Time Bomb
The G20 Summit is not just another international meeting. It will bring presidents, prime ministers, and heads of state to South Africa. Yet:
- Security officers at OR Tambo lack firearms.
- Senior management lacks aviation security expertise.
- Deployment plans collapse under basic operational stress.
- Infrastructure is crumbling and unmaintained.
- Procurement irregularities and R333 million wasted in irregular expenditure reveal a company already bleeding resources.
Instead of preparing South Africa’s airports as secure gateways for global leaders, ACSA’s mismanagement risks turning them into global headlines of failure.
The Pattern of Denial
This disaster is not an aberration — it is the result of a consistent pattern:
- Fuel crises dismissed as minor technical issues.
- Procurement scandals (from Mafoko’s overpriced detectors to faulty runway lights) left unresolved.
- Court contempt findings ignored until jail threats forced compliance.
At every stage, leadership has chosen denial over accountability.
Conclusion: Remove, Investigate, Rebuild
South Africa is out of time. With the G20 countdown underway, ACSA’s failures can no longer be spun away.
- CEO Mpumi Mpofu and the ACSA Board must be removed immediately.
- Competent, aviation-experienced leadership must be appointed.
- A full independent inquiry by the Department of Transport must be commissioned into ACSA’s finances, procurement, and security failures.
The G20 cannot be left in the hands of leaders who have already failed their own passengers. South Africans are sick of cadre protection, denial, and excuses. The world is watching, and ACSA is running stands at a crossroads.
