Clean-up of money plane at Waterkloof
Crime scene cleaners scrub down bloody plane at Waterkloof air force base.
Crime scene clean-up crews yesterday scrubbed down the infamous SA cargo plane in which a dead man was discovered when it made a stop in Zimbabwe at the weekend.
The plane was carrying billions of rands in cash which had been printed in Germany and was being delivered to the SA reserve bank.
At Harare airport, authorities spotted a trail of blood leading to the plane’s, a McDonnel Douglas MD-11, cargo section. Upon search, a dead man and loads of cash were found.
The man was reportedly a stowaway but it was not immediately clear where he had made his way onto the plane.
The plane and the money have since arrived safely at the Waterkloof air force base, and the money handed over to the owner, the reserve bank.
Reserve Bank spokesperson Pradeep Maharaj, said printing money overseas was normal.
“The SARB wishes to reiterate that printing SA currency abroad, and the transporting it is part of the normal course of currency operations and business contingency planning,” said Maharaj.
“In order to achieve this and to ensure that contingency plans are robust and regularly tested, a small percentage of the bank’s annual banknote order is outsourced to credible and vetted international printing companies while the bulk of South African currency was produced at the South African Bank Note Company, owned by the bank.”
Defence spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini could not comment on the plane’s current status at the air force base.
The identity of the supposed stowaway has not been made public.
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