Cape Town - Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) has met the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) following complaints that Muslim women were ordered to remove their hijabs at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.
The MJC said the meeting was requested following “shocking videos” of Muslim women being physically searched at OR Tambo that were circulated on social media, as well as members of the MJC having similar experiences of being randomly searched on trips to Johannesburg.
“The meeting boded well when Acsa agreed to meet with the MJC. Details of the meeting were largely concentrated around the standard operating procedures (SOPs) of Acsa in relation to screening and searches, and whether or not religious profiling was happening to Muslims passing through South Africa’s airports. Acsa presented their SOPs, substantiating it with video footage. These highlighted that the searches and screenings remained random, with installed technology (randomiser) prompting the security guard that screening must be performed.
“In addition to these videos, the MJC was also privy to video footage where Acsa showed non-Muslim passengers dressed in normal attire, passengers wearing caps and the ‘doek’ as well as passengers wearing weaves being screened and searched,” the MJC said.
The MJC said Acsa acknowledged that while its standard operating procedures were in line with international standards, the personnel on the floor may at times err in being too aggressive with travellers.
“Acsa policies allow for passengers that prefer to be processed privately to request it, and this must be facilitated by the security personnel. Indications (are) that in these private rooms, the security personnel are recorded via video to ensure that there is no corruption, nor risk to the passenger,” the MCJ said.
Acsa said it would respond to requests for comment in 24 hours.
Cape Times