Nkandla flights ‘strain SAAF budget’

EXPENSIVE daily helicopter flights between President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla residence and the King Shaka International Airport are further straining the shrinking budgets of the South African Air Force (SAAF), says the South African National Defence Union (Sandu).

An insufficient budget has led to half the Gripen fighter fleet being placed in storage, and the Agusta A109 light utility helicopter fleet has been grounded. Flying hours per pilot have been cut by as much as two-thirds and numerous maintenance contracts have been placed on hold.

Sandu national secretary Pikkie Greeff said while many air force units were being starved of resources for operations and training, money was being spent to transport Mr Zuma from the airport to Nkandla.

In KwaZulu-Natal, two helicopter squadrons on the coast have received no funding this year for sea and mountain rescue operations, but have funding for VIP flights, according to a report. Beeld newspaper reported on Tuesday that 15 Squadron, based in Durban, was allowed a small number of flight hours for training, but 300 hours for VIP flights.

Mr Zuma uses his presidential jet to fly to King Shaka International Airport in Durban and two Oryx helicopters to fly 100km from there to Nkandla.

Beeld says these helicopter flights are estimated to cost about R36,000 each.

The media-shy air force chief, Lt-Gen Fabian Msimang, admitted to his staff at the weekend that the air force was experiencing difficulties but urged them to remain in the service. His address was leaked to DefenceWeb, apparently by a staff member.

The air force said on Tuesday Lt-Gen Msimang was speaking informally to officers and staff of 80 Air Navigation School (80 ANS) at Ysterplaat base, but was not aware any media representatives were present. He has avoided the media after reports were published about budget deficiencies leading to reduced flying hours for young pilots, lack of serviceable aircraft, and the poor morale of air crew.

Mr Greeff said Lt-Gen Msimang should realise he is a military leader, not a politician, and should refrain from going around units promising the SAAF will get better. "He is not in charge of the budget, the minister (Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula) and the government through the Treasury are responsible for insufficient funding within the SAAF."

The poor serviceability of the SAAF fleet was blamed on the cancellation of the Denel Aero Manpower Group (AMG) servicing contract from April 1. As a result, the SAAF’s air servicing units lost 389 skilled technicians. Only 139 specialists were retained in terms of a negotiated skills supply agreement and they were deployed to units across South Africa.

DefenceWeb also reported that Lt-Gen Msimang said the cancellation of the Denel-AMG contract was not an air force decision. It was evergreen and had been running for many years. "The auditor-general had an opinion that we had to end it because it was not conforming to the Public Finance Management Act, so we had to do something."

He also said that the air force, because of planning in silos, did not maximise people’s potential, to use them effectively. As a result, it was "overstocked with senior personnel". He was restructuring the air force "because the way it is configured right now is not working optimally".

- BDLive