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Hijack: Cops 'had to dominate'
19/06/2006 14:06 - (SA)
Johannesburg - The police on Monday defended the conduct of the Special Task Force (STF) aboard the SAA plane that was subject to a hijacking attempt at the weekend.
"Obviously, from the police side, it is regrettable that some passengers feel they have been traumatised but at the end of the day their safety was the primary concern," spokesperson Director Sally de Beer said.
Newspapers reported on Monday that some passengers aboard the flight a Zimbabwean student allegedly attempted to hijack on Saturday were sworn at and slapped by police when they came aboard the aircraft after it had landed at Cape Town International Airport.
The alleged hijacker was quickly overwhelmed by fellow passengers while attempting to gain access to the aircraft's cockpit.
Tinashe Rioga, 21, appeared in Bellville magistrate's court on Monday and was remanded to June 26.
Standard procedure
De Beer explained that the STF's primary function was to deal with high risk operations that couldn't be dealt with effectively by other units of the police.
"This would include hostage situations on land, sea or in the air as well as incidence of urban or rural terrorism.
"I can't really speak about this specific incident as debriefings are still going on and some of it is court-directed evidence, but our standard operating procedures (SOP) are such that where there are hostages on plane the STF will always be first aboard to secure the plane and ensure the safe evacuation of passengers," De Beer added.
"... and when they board that plane they can never make assumptions such as that there was only a single hostage-taker, acting alone. There could be a sleeper among the passengers that will only become active when all their other plans have failed.
"STF members have to dominate the situation from the moment they board and our SOPs are in line with international standards.
"People complained about them shouting, but this is SOP for verbal dominance - passengers to look down and lean forward with hands over their heads - there are tactical reasons for doing this.
"It must be understood that compliance with instructions in this type of situation is of paramount importance," De Beer said.
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