Police: Media compromising O.R. Tambo heist probe
The South African Police service (SAPS) says media reports claiming that police members received a tip-off ahead of the armed robbery at O.R. Tambo International Airport, could jeopardise the investigation.
Responding to the report, police spokesperson, Col. Athlenda Mathe said that pressure cannot be put on police members to respond to allegations regarding the robbery as well as the Benoni 14 killings.
SA Police Union (SAPU) president Mpho Kwinika told Times Live: "The truth over exactly what happened must be revealed. We have damning information that what really happened is being covered up ... that warnings were received but were not acted on by senior police management."
The report claims that had police acted on a tip-off, the heist could have been averted.
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"A media conference relating to both the O.R. Tambo robbery and the 14 Benoni killings was held where updates and progress was made public," she says.
Mathe has accused journalists of infiltrating the investigation by extracting information, illegally, from police members involved in the investigation.
"We have noted with serious concerns attempts by journalists to compromise the investigation by interfering for the purposes of creating suspicion and or a distorted picture," Mathe says.
She has called upon journalists to afford the investigating officers the necessary space to conclude the investigation and clamp down on organised crime.