Dr Max Peterson writes from Eynsham, Oxon:

My wife and I recently travelled on South African Airways from Heathrow to Harare via Johannesburg where we changed planes. On the outward flight a valuable short wave radio was stolen from my bag. (A small and uncomplicated padlock had been opened and replaced.) I have been told that such thefts are commonplace at Johannesburg Airport.

SAA accepts no responsibility and says that it has carefully investigated my claim. However, it does admit that 90 extra security cameras are due to be installed in the baggage-loading area.

The claim I made against SAA for the theft was denied on the basis that its general conditions of carriage specifically exclude responsibility for electronic equipment. Since I was not sent a copy of the terms and conditions with our tickets, I had no idea of this.

It is also noteworthy that our baggage did not arrive on the same aeroplane as we did, either on the outgoing flight to Harare or the return flight from Port Elizabeth. In both cases it was obviously delayed in Johannesburg.

I wonder whether it would have been sensible, time permitting, to have collected the baggage in Johannesburg and checked it in again for the onward flight. Have you any advice?

Gill replies:

You are not alone in having items stolen while bags are in transit at Johannesburg Airport. Another reader wrote this week to say that he had suffered a similar theft while travelling via Johannesburg on Air Namibia.

Theft in the baggage-handling area is an issue at quite a few airports, notably in Africa and South America. This is why departure halls in such places often have a service for wrapping suitcases in a heavy-duty clingfilm as a deterrent.

If you were sent paper tickets I am surprised the conditions of carriage were not included as this is usual practice. However, the onus is always on customers to ask for a copy. With etickets bought online there is always a link to terms and conditions, which customers must tick as having read.

I see from SAA's letter of explanation that it has looked at CCTV tape and appears to have made a decent attempt to find out what happened, which is laudatory. There has obviously been a problem but SAA says that it is now working with the South African police to crack down on theft from baggage and has had "significant success" and that arrests have been made.

SAA's conditions of carriage say that hold luggage must not contain: "fragile or perishable items, artwork, money, jewellery, precious metals, computers, personal electronic devices, cellular telephones, cameras, audio and video equipment, negotiable papers, securities or other valuables, business documents, passports and other identification documents or samples".

This catch-all list covers the airline against claims if valuable, fragile or irreplaceable items are lost or stolen while in its care. Your experience is a reminder to readers never to place valuables of any kind in hold luggage as neither the airline nor the travel insurer will pay for their loss.

While it is possible to collect bags and re-check them (if you have time), this is a real hassle after a long flight and it means going through immigration if you are flying on to another country. But where an internal flight is connecting with an international flight, it can make sense if the airport has a reputation for tardy luggage handling.