Criminal syndicate stole millions of rands in aircraft parts in South Africa

There is an organised group of criminals stealing valuable aircraft components in South Africa.

This was recently confirmed by the state-owned air carrier South African Airways (SAA).

In March 2026, a former avionics technician for the company was convicted and sentenced to 18 years in prison for the theft of high-value aircraft parts for a criminal syndicate.

Avionics refers to the electronic systems used on aircraft, including displays, navigation, communication, and management components.

Lucas Sekae was found guilty on three counts of theft, following an investigation by SAA Group Security, Forensics and the South African Police Service (SAPS) between 2019 and 2021.

The former chairperson of the SAA Technical (SAAT) board stated that a “three-ton ECG” system valued at R15 million was stolen without a trace.

“And when you want to check CCTV cameras, you are told that the cameras are not working — this tells you that theft is institutionalised in this place,” he said, implying that airport security played a role in the theft.

“Mr Sekae was linked to a broader criminal syndicate involving SAAT employees and associated private companies,” SAA said in an announcement.

Sakae was dismissed from SAA’s technicians team on 13 April 2022 after a disciplinary process.

He has been sentenced to an effective 18-year prison sentence by the Kempton Park Regional Court.

The airline stated that several other persons have already been arrested and found guilty, and are currently awaiting sentencing for corruption and criminal activities while employed by SAA.

All of this follows remarks made back in 2018 by then-chairperson of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Themba Godi, who said that technicians working at SAA were disregarding official policies.

He revealed that a breach in the airline’s security systems allowed employees to steal millions of rands worth of equipment without being discovered.

Theft played a role in SAA’s downfall

Godi further claimed that the thefts were a significant contributor towards the state-owned airline’s collapse.

“SAA Technical is under siege from its own employees who are flouting policy.”

“All these problems we are addressing at South African Airways as an entity, which have resulted in the entity being viewed as having no value and should therefore be privatised, stem from SAA Technical.”

He added that, in order to get SAA up and running, you needed to ‘get SAAT right.’

South African Airways entered voluntary business rescue proceedings in December 2019 and only ended the process in 2021 after a massive restructuring and internal investigation into corruption at the entity.

In March 2025, the Special Investigating Unit (SUI) added SAA to a list of institutions under investigation for “serious maladministration, corruption, and unlawful conduct.”

It examined SAAT teams as part of the corruption probe. Previously, these teams fell outside the scope of an initial investigation, according to a Ch-Aviation report.

The SUI said it would “investigate any irregular, improper, or unlawful conduct, as well as any undisclosed or unauthorised interests involving SAA or SAAT personnel or third parties.”

The period under examination was also expanded to encompass everything from January 2022 to December 2025.

The SUI’s preliminary findings revealed that corrupt payments were made between SAAT technicians and board members.

It is believed that most of this corruption took place under the watch of former chairwoman Dudu Myeni, who served on SAA’s board between January 2015 and November 2017.

Myeni passed away in June 2024, but not before the Pretoria High Court declared her a delinquent director for life in 2020, following fraud and corruption charges relating to her time at SAA and its subsequent collapse.