Welcome to “The Friendly City” where, on exiting the airport, you are met by land strewn with shattered glass, pigs gorging on garbage and buildings so vandalised they are no more than empty shells.
The immediate area surrounding the newly renamed Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport and former industrial park is plagued by vandalism and theft, while the adjacent Airport Valley informal settlement and its borders have become a health and safety hazard.
As abandoned warehouses and buildings are carried away brick by brick, so the area has become a breeding ground for criminals.
Almost all the buildings have been stripped of their original features, including roofs, windows and doors.
Next to one of the airport’s runways lies a collection of old warehouses and office buildings, part of the “non-scheduled industrial precinct” owned by the Airports Company SA (Acsa).
Several buildings, including the security booth at the entrance to the precinct, don’t have roofs. There is still evidence of where the roof trusses were sawn off.
Down the road, only the frame of a warehouse, which apparently housed X-ray machines, remains standing.
Fencing around the actual airport runway is only partially intact, with sections of the barbed wire removed.
This makes it relatively easy for anyone to unlawfully enter the runway.
Rubbish blown from a nearby informal dump also blankets sections of the barbed wire, reducing the effectiveness of the fence.
Nelson Mandela Bay acting city manager Anele Qaba is understandably concerned.
“Destruction and vandalism of public assets negatively affect the image of our city and if it continues, in no time we will end up looking like a ghost city,” he said.
Bay Business Chamber CEO Denise van Huyssteen said the situation was not good for business.
“We are aware of certain instances where member companies have had their manufacturing operations disrupted due to theft of electricity infrastructure at substations.
“To this end, we are engaging with the municipality around potential solutions to the issue,” she said.
“Business requires an enabling environment to operate and on this score we are facing unprecedented challenges such as a water crisis, electricity problems and unacceptable levels of crime.
“All these issues contribute to increasing the cost of doing business and as such make it very difficult to retain and attract investors to our city, and to ultimately support the recovery of our economy and create much-needed jobs.”
Van Huyssteen called on the police and relevant authorities to restore order.
Airport manager Claudia Daniels said though Acsa was responsible for the upkeep of the area, the police also played a role in maintaining safety.
“[T]he airport authority employs security personnel, including a contracted security company that is fully trained and compliant with aviation security standards,” Daniels said.
She said there was ongoing collaboration with the airport’s strategic partners in investigating possible solutions and areas of improvement, but denied the airport fencing was not up to scratch, saying it met the SA Civil Aviation Authority’s standards.
“The non-scheduled industrial area has experienced challenges with vandalism.
“The airport authority has identified the illegal dumping as a risk, and we’re putting measures in place to mitigate this.
“The airport security fencing meets the specifications prescribed by the Aviation Authority.
“An additional security feature is the razor wire fencing on top of the fence,” Daniels said.
However, security personnel working near the airport said vandalism was out of control.
One security officer, who asked not to be named, said those vandalising the area, stealing everything from bricks to light fittings, metal sheeting and window frames, would not stop until there was nothing left.
“We work in shifts, a few days on, a few days off.
“Every time I come back I see how the vandalism and theft has continued unabated.
“Once a building is completely stripped, they move onto the next one,” he said.
In the week that he had been on leave, a warehouse roof had completely disappeared.
Nearby, the sheeting of a warehouse had been carried away.
All that remained was the steel frame and a lone toilet on one corner of the concrete floor.
All perimeter fencing and electrified fencing had also been cut and removed.
“Give it another week and those [remaining] buildings will be carried away,” the officer said.
Between the industrial park and neighbouring Airport Valley settlement lies an illegal dumping ground, growing by the day as dumping goes unchecked.
Pigs and other livestock rummage through the waste.
Kraals have also been erected less than 100m from the airport’s main runway.
Metres away from the entrance to the former industrial park and the access road is an electrical substation with a gaping hole on one side.
Live wire cables poke out and run across shack roofs and roads to illegally feed electricity to the local community, presenting a huge safety hazard.
Municipal spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki said the electricity department would visit the site to establish what could be done to counter the illegal electrical connections.
“[T]he issue of resources always determines what and how much can be done,” Mniki said.
The metro’s security detail is already stretched because of rampant theft and vandalism across the city.
The municipality was now working on a comprehensive and integrated plan to deal with all security-related challenges, “including this one”, Mniki said.
He said they were working to address concerns about the informal settlements, including the informal farming community.
Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said members of the Border Patrol Unit, K9 Unit and Walmer police constantly patrolled the airport and surrounds as incidents of theft and vandalism escalated.
“Various cases related to vandalism and theft at the properties surrounding the airport have been reported and are being investigated.”
Naidu said two suspects had been arrested in August for theft and the possession of stolen property.
The matter was still being investigated.
A number of well-known buildings in the Bay have come under attack from vandals and thieves in recent months. These include:
- The Finnis Street sports complex in Bethelsdorp;
- The Allanridge Civic Centre in Kariega;
- The Chatty Library;
- The Newton Park Library;
- St George’s Park swimming pool complex;
- Lilian Ngoyi Sports Centre;
- Raymond Mhlaba Sports Centre;
- The Zwide, Dan Qeqe, Gelvandale and Wolfson stadiums; and
- James Ndulula Primary School.
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