Madam Speaker, an entire flight crew was detained at London's Heathrow Airport on Monday morning after 5kg of cocaine was found hidden in a crew member's luggage. This is the second time in less than a month that a crew of our national carrier has been detained at Heathrow for a drug-related incident.
South African Airways is our national carrier and is meant to represent us with dignity and pride. One of SAA's stated corporate values is integrity. They are meant to practise the highest standards of ethical behaviour in all their lines of work and maintain credibility. This is clearly not happening at SAA; it is failing in its bid to attain this important value, while the actions of its crew members are tarnishing our country's reputation.
Our national carrier is already under great pressure, and criminal incidents such as this only add to the woes and increase negativity surrounding SAA and South Africa as a crime hotspot. A thorough investigation must be conducted into this affair and legal action must be taken against all those found guilty.
Its security measures must therefore also be reviewed with a view to strengthening them, as they are clearly lacking in this department and their inadequacy is having a negative effect on our country's image. This incident comes at a time when visa requirements have been imposed on South Africans entering the UK, as we were not able to rectify areas of concern to the UK, including the ease with which non-South Africans can obtain genuine South African travel documents. Thank you.