Keynote Address by Ms. Sindisiwe Chikunga (MP) Deputy Minister of Transport on the Occasion of the Umthatha Air Show
Premier of the Eastern Cape: Honourable Phumulo Masualle
Acting MEC for Transport, Ms Pemmy Majodina
Other MECs present from the Eastern Cape Province;
Councillors from the OR Tambo District Municipality led by the Her Majesty the Executive Mayor: Cllr. Nonkosazana Meth
His Majesty, the Executive Mayor of KSD Local Municipality Cllr Dumani Zozo / Chief Makaula (to be confirmed)
ADG of the Department of Transport, Mathabatha Mokonyama
Senior Management of the Department of Transport
Chairpersons and Members of the Boards of Our Entities
CEOs of Aviation Entities
Senior officials from various government departments and public entities ( DOT, Defence, Public Enterprises, SAPS, SAA, ATNS, Denel, ACSA);
Representatives of Airlines;
Aviation Associations;
Aviation schools;
Members of the Media
Introduction
Ladies and gentlemen.
It is such a great honour and pleasure to be part of this Air Show in the beautiful Umthatha and being among the people of the OR Tambo District and its various municipalities.
Just yesterday we were celebrating the birthday of a beautiful father and grandfather to many gathered here today, President of the African National Congress and one of the parents of our freedom, President Oliver Kaizana Reginald Tambo.
A week ago on the 19th in Gauteng at the OR Tambo International Airport we unveiled the statue of President Oliver Tambo and renamed the ATNS Auditorium O R Tambo in which his bust was also unveiled in recognition of his invaluable contribution to our liberation.
And this very year we celebrate a 100 years in which we were granted the pleasure and pride of being associated with the name Oliver Tambo as South Africans, because we have been the envy of every nation whose soil he touched.
Former President of the Republic, Nelson Mandela, at the funeral of President Oliver Tambo and again just yesterday former President Thabo Mbeki reiterated the same words and I quote:
“As you strived, we will restore the dignity of the dehumanised.
As you commanded, we will defend the option of a peaceful resolution of our problems.
As you prayed, we will respond to the cries of the wretched of the earth. As you loved them, we will, always, stretch out a hand of endearment to those who are your flesh and blood.
In all this, we will not fail you, unquote”.
In fact former President Mbeki adds yet another declaration made by former President Mandela and concludes the eulogy by correctly declaring:
“Let all of us who live say that while we live, Oliver Tambo will not die!”
That this event of economic prosperity is held on this day in this Month of Tambo’s birthday and in this Centenary Year can never be more suitable.
Programme Director, we must definitely commend the organisers of this event for ensuring that in this month of Tambo the children from our most disadvantaged backgrounds are granted this chance not only to view the beautiful displays organised, but also to give certainty to their dreams.
Today South Africa has undergone immense changes in many aspects of our people’s lives and education has also been beneficiary of these changes; and we celebrate those today.
The constant improvements we are seeing in our education system are geared at all times at producing young people that shall take us further towards the kind of development that is characteristic of a truly free people.
Today we are asked to take our minds to the skies, to place ourselves beyond the clouds, and to dream freely; and we cannot have limits to what we can be or what we can do to better ourselves, so let your dreams fly freely.
Yet as government, ladies and gentlemen, we are also aware of the many challenges that students and youth still face in South Africa, challenges that are a threat to the realisation of these dreams.
The most serious manifestation of these challenges is lack of employment opportunities, the poverty that ensues and all is worsened by a lack of skills in most instances.
Other challenges include social ills such as alcohol abuse, use of illicit drugs and crime, which also affect our youth.
In the aviation space the challenge has shown itself in the slow transformation of the sector to accommodate black women, people with disabilities and black youth.
“Determined to be the best in struggle is a great challenge and which in a way gives us an opportunity to demonstrate our calibre”.
So had said, President Oliver Tambo addressing the South African youth in exile at Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College in Tanzania after the apartheid government had gone on a rampage of murder across the southern African region.
But this youth had been encouraged by these fatherly words that followed from President Tambo:
We would hope that they (meaning the security threats experienced then) have fired your imagination and resolve. We would hope that these developments will help our efforts to produce young men and women of great worth, and that you will understand that to be here is to be on a mission”, unquote.
Today we are a democratic society; we have won our freedom through actual struggles against the oppression of our people and have established a constitutional system comparable to only a few if any. Yet the inequalities continue to rob our children of the golden opportunities that are naturally theirs to explore and so our mission is to change the conditions affecting the majority of our youth and the transport sector shall not be spared.
The October Transport Month
Fellow South Africans, we are today almost at the end of our October Transport Month in which we showcase achievements, plans, programmes and projects, conduct awareness and education programmes on opportunities in all modes of transport such as maritime transport, rail, road, public transport and aviation, while committed to the promotion of public transport and advancing the country’s road safety initiatives.
“We move the country forward” remains our theme for this year’s October Transport Month Programme and we move our country forward on all modes of transport.
We are all the funky transport careers that colour the dreams of the youth of our land
Programme Director, The aviation sector is but one of the modes of transport in which the National Department of Transport is fully involved.
We also regulate for road, rail and water based transport of the sea and our inland waterways.
Aviation Agencies are the following:
- South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA)
- Airports Company South Africa (ACSA)
- Air Traffic Navigation Services (ATNS) Dearest learners,
These entities are run by the some of the most able-minded individuals our country has produced and this is evident in the achievements their respective companies have been able to realise, achievements to which I shall return later.
Purpose of the Air Show
Ladies and gentlemen, the purpose of this event is to showcase the fascinating elements of air transport, our achievements and the exciting career choices we can make in aviation.
Yet it can never end there, because there is so much in our pot of transport opportunities in all modes of transport as shall be evident in references I shall make of other modes.
Growing the economy means we should develop our transport infrastructure such as roads, airports and other buildings, sea ports, and rail networks, improve our communication systems, protect our environment and find money to carry that out.
But learners without the people that must operate machinery, communication systems, build roads, fly planes, steer ships, protect economic assets and the environment and provide the thinking about what is to be done, then there can be no economic development.
Recognising that means we must find ways of developing the skills necessary especially the knowledge in mathematics and physical science, economics, and geography in order to do all these things our economy will demand we do.
We must follow in the footsteps of Oliver Tambo who it said by former President Mbeki who says about President Tambo:
“As he grew up he had demonstrated outstanding competence in the natural sciences, including mathematics, physics and chemistry, and taught these subjects” unquote.
No South African man or woman must be left behind and economic growth must be lived and felt by all.
To this extent we have lengthened and widened our footprint in all the transport modes to reach rural and farm areas as well as economically depressed households in all our bursary programmes, internships and learnerships.
The opportunities available to us through civil aviation can be summarised thus:
In 2014 the world’s airlines transported about 3, 2 billion passengers, a 6.5% increase since 2013 and African airline industry showing a growth of 7% due to investment in infrastructure and the adoption of open skies policy.
Our country’s civil aviation industry contributes about 2.1% to our gross domestic product, meaning as a percentage of all that we produce as a country. It further contributes about 4.3% to the creation of jobs in both aviation and tourism industries.
Ladies and gentlemen, while the figures might offer some promise of progress, this will remain vague to many of our youth and blacks generally unless serious changes are introduced. It is a well-documented fact that the aviation industry remains stubborn against transformation in all aviation fields especially technical aviation fields such as piloting and engineering as revealed by 2016/17 statistics.
The Airline Transport Pilot’s Licence category, which is the highest pilot qualification, indicated that the industry is still grossly untransformed, with White males constituting 90% of pilot licence holders; with only 17.9% representing women out of 30 000 license holders.
Statistics depict an even worse picture in relation to the ownership and management of aviation businesses. For instance; out of a total of 318 Air Operator Certificate holders only seven (7) are companies owned by women.
Only one (1) is owned by a Black woman. There are only ten (10) Aviation Training Organisations owned by women, i.e. out of a total of 222. Only three (3) of them are owned by Black women.
In order to speak with one voice as government in our efforts to expand opportunities for skills we have struck partnerships with the Department of Basic Education as well as the Department of Higher Education and Training to build the necessary skills for all modes of Transport. These partnerships extend to the majority of tertiary institutions of learning and TVET Colleges.
Joint Aviation Awareness Programme in Schools
Ladies and gentlemen, We are reaching out and bringing aviation career knowledge to marginalised societies through our Joint Aviation Awareness Programme, or JAAP in short which brings together key aviation role players for transformation.
The results are noticeable.
Each year, the South African Civil Aviation Authority together with other JAAP members visit almost 400 schools, mostly based in rural areas across the country. In the process, over 20,000 learners get introduced to various careers and opportunities in the aviation sector every year.
In addition, young men from an average of twenty high schools are also targeted for career awareness when the Civil Aviation Authority and other aviation entities host the Tracker Men in the Making Campaign. The same applies when young women from
various high schools are hosted as part of the Cell C Take a Girl Child to work initiative. Practical experience gained in both.
Financial Assistance: Education and Training Programmes already being funded
Programme Director and Learners,
The Civil Aviation Authority has introduced a bursary, apprenticeship and internship programme to assist deserving learners especially in rural areas to advance careers in aviation.
In the 2015/16 financial year, the Civil Aviation Authority supported the training of 30 young South Africans, both male and female students who aspire to become aviators, mostly from rural areas and poor households. These students are enrolled for studies and training in various fields and programmes including aeronautical engineering, cadet pilot training, and aircraft maintenance and engineering apprenticeships.
A total of eight (8) students are currently in the Pilot Cadet Training Programme four (4) of which have completed their Commercial Pilot’s Licence (CPL) training.
The Civil Aviation Authority has gone a step further to ensure that these four young pilots pursue their airline transport licenses.
Fifteen (15) students are participating in the Aircraft Maintenance Engineering apprentice programme and seven (7) are studying towards a Degree in Aeronautical Engineering at WITS University.
In addition beautiful children, the Civil Aviation Authority is assisting unemployed graduates to launch their careers and in the last financial year the CAA took in nine (9) graduates on an internship programme.
These students have qualifications in various fields – and not necessarily aviation. Another fifteen (15) will be joining the Authority in the near future.
Skills still required in Aviation
Learners, the fast increasing numbers that travel by flight in and out of South Africa will require more:
- Pilots
- Aeronautical engineers
- Air traffic controllers
- Air traffic navigators
- Airport management
- Air traffic service assistant
- Avionics and flight inspectors
- Tower controllers
- Approach controllers
- Area controllers
- Meteorologists and many more needed by departments of individual aviation entities.
We are fully aware of the requirement for excellence that these entities must comply with and equally aware of the obligations to get good grades on your part as learners.
Achievements by our Aviation State Owned Entities The Air Traffic Navigation Services (ATNS)
Ladies and gentlemen, The ATNS is headed by Mr Thabani Mthiyani as CEO of the company. Mr Mthiyane, while ATNS CEO is also the Chairperson of Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (CANSO) Africa Region and an Executive Committee member of CANSO Global.
ICAO nomination of ATNS executive
South Africa continues to play a significant role in the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) activities with representation in most ICAO Panels.
The most recent nomination being that of Jeoffrey Matshoba, the Executive responsible for Air Traffic Management and Infrastructure Planning at ATNS.
He is a member of the Separation and Airspace Safety Panel (SASP). In this panel, experts develop ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices in an effort to improve Aviation safety and enhance Air Traffic Management.
Most commendable is that the ATNS Academy in one of the best in the world and has gained great respect across the world.
Global recognition for for ATNS academy
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) Training and Development Institute (TDI) awarded ATNS Aviation Training Academy (ATA) membership of its Premier Circle in acknowledgement of ATA’s high quality contribution to IATA programs.
Regional cooperation between NSPS promoted, enhanced and sustained
ATNS and Aireon have signed a Regional Commercialization Agreement to jointly develop the uses of space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data throughout the Southern part of Africa.
Transport Safety and Security
ATNS is in the process of introducing new infrastructure or replacing the current old technology systems with the latest technologies designed to support operations, thereby ensuring
operational sustainability, ensuring latest functionalities and capabilities for the benefit of the aviation community and addressing future challenges of scalability and capacity creation.
Airports Company South Africa
Mr Bongani Maseko, CEO of ACSA, was on the 23rd October 2017 elected as Chair of Airports Council International (ACI) at the 27th ACI World Annual General Assembly. Airports Council International (ACI) is the only global trade representative of the world’s airports. The awards received are evidence of hard work as can understood from the following list of achievements.
Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) Airport Rankings and Awards
The World’s Top 100 Airports
- Cape Town International Airport: 19th, King Shaka International Airport: 35th and
- OR. Tambo International Airport: 37th (Source: Skytrax).
- Best Airport by Region – Africa category (over 2 million passengers per year)
- King Shaka International Airport 1st and Cape Town International 3rd.
- Cape Town International Airport fared better in the Safety Awards and was crowned Best Airport in Africa with over 20 000 air traffic movements. (Source: Infrastructurene.ws).
African Airport Operator of the Year
February 2017 - O.R. Tambo International Airport received the African Airport of the Year Award - this is the third year which sees our flagship airport receive this accolade.
The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA)
As the cherry on top of these achievements we have our very first African female South African Civil Aviation Authority CEO Ms Poppy Khoza, who is also the very first African female to be the Chairperson of the Aviation Security Panel of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
ICAO Audit
Ladies and gentlemen, South Africa has just been audited for aviation safety and has yet again come out tops thanks to the sterling work of all at SACAA and sister agencies.
In fact, each South African should be proud to note that South Africa’s preliminary ICAO audit results have risen from 83,83% to 86,71%;
This is an improvement of 3.43% in the level of Effective Implementation of ICAO’s eight Critical Elements. The 86, 71% is significantly higher than the world average of 60%.
This puts South Africa at position Number 1 in Africa, and 33 globally;
SACAA has achieved a 50% reduction in general aviation aircraft accidents when compared to four years ago.
Maintained a 0% accident rate in airline and scheduled operations;
Received various awards, including being named the Best Performing Institution in Transport, which is an award that the SACAA has won for three successive years, making the Authority the only entity to have received this award since the inception of the Annual Transport Awards, back in October 2014 and During this reporting period, the SACAA visited 303 schools in all provinces and in the process interacted with 40,623 learners. That is a commendable achievement.
These are some of the glimpses into the sterling work carried out by our entities in aviation and we are here to recruit your bright minds to join these other bright minds.
But I promised that it does not end there as will be understood from the opportunities available in the other transport modes such as rail, public and maritime transport.
Road Transport Agencies:
- Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA)
- Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC)
- Cross Border Road Traffic Agency (C-BRTA)
- Road Accident Fund (RAF)
- South African National Road Agency Limited (SANRAL)
Road transportation offers immense opportunities for the creation of jobs and application of relevant skills.
These opportunities are defined by the size of our road network, which is the tenth (10th) largest road network in the world and ranks number 18 in the world for paved road network. Our network is described thus:
- Paved: 158 124 kilometres (kms)
- Gravel: 459 957 kms
- Total: 618 081 kms
A total of 131 919 kms of proclaimed roads brings the grand total of road length to 750 000 kms.
These roads will need redesigning or maintenance or linked to the overall road network. This will require a variety of skills such as but not limited to the following:
- Civil Engineering,
- Land surveying,
- Quantity surveying including
- Road traffic management
The department and its road based entities make provision for bursaries and internships for youth.
Maritime Transport Agencies:
South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) Ports Regulator of South Africa
South Africa’s coastline is 3900kms long and the biggest out of the 8 ports we own is Durban, which handles South Africa’s largest share of sea traffic. Durban is visited by about 4,500 vessels yearly and handles about 8, 300 containers per month.
Our coastline carries vast potential, which has been identified for rapid results economic development through Operation Phakisa, the oceans economy.
As the Department of Transport we believe maritime career guidance must be incorporated into the schools and tertiary levels, we also believe industry must double their intake of internship candidates to support skills development.
Government and industry should invest in the maritime youth development corps.
We have entered into international and domestic agreements for training maritime skills such as with:
- The World Maritime University in Sweden,
- International Maritime Law Institute in Malta,
- Plymouth University and
Locally:
- Cape Peninsular University of Technology,
- Durban University of Technology and
- The Nelson Mandela University
Maritime Transport Careers and Skills
- Hydrography,
- Meteorology,
- Naval Architecture,
- Maritime Economics, and
- Many more enticing careers and skills in that sector,including different engineering and technical skills among a few to mention.
Rail Transport Agencies:
Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa Rail Safety Regulator
The South African rail network is the 11th largest in the world at 22 298 route kilometres and a track distance of 30 400 kms.
There is ongoing large scale overhaul of passenger rail with a fleet renewal programme of 3600 coaches and therefore 600 new trains managed by PRASA. This will involve the revitalisation of this industry through local manufacturing and supply of components.
This will also involve upgrades to the rail network to allow for new coaches with upgraded features.
Skills in Rail:
- Rail engineers,
- Artisans, and rail technicians.
- Train drivers, and
- Train control officers among others.
The Transnet School of Rail offers the courses relevant for the skills described and the new PRASA training centre in Dunnator in Ekurhuleni will contribute to skills development in rail.
Bursaries and Internships
Programme Director, of importance to note is that for all these modes of transport, the Department of Transport and its entities
have made bursaries and Scholarships available to hard-working and deserving learners.
In addition all our entities and the Department have also opened doors to internships and information on that can be found on the various websites of entities as well as our website as the Department of Transport, which is www.dot.gov.za
We believe that contact details on all our entities have been made available for all gathered here to use.
We hope, Ladies and gentlemen, that this Air Show and many others that shall follow will serve to educate our young South Africans of the infinite career opportunities that mark this transport industry.
Be safe and responsible on our roads.
We wish to thank the learners and teachers present and all those that have patiently provided us this space for us to have a conversation about the future of aviation and the transport sector in general.
Ladies and gentlemen, teachers and learners we wish you all a safe holiday season.
We wish learners good luck in their final year exams and hope to see most of you in their studies towards careers in aviation and other modes of transport.
I thank you all.
