The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Ms Lindiwe Sisulu received a report from the Acting Chief of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), Lt General Shilubane on the technical challenges on a rented plane which was due to transport Deputy President, Kgalema Motlanthe to Finland on an official visit yesterday (October 17, 2011). The failure of the Plane to pass the necessary safety checks resulted to the South African Air force cancelling the scheduled plane.
The plane was rented due to the shortage of planes within the SAAF to transport VIPs. The current Squadron responsible for transporting the President, Deputy President and former Presidents (VIP) is also using very old planes which are sometimes not reliable. They spend 60% to 70% of their time under maintenance and in service; as a result the South African Air Force (SAAF) has to rent planes from the reserve force or a very small pool of private planes in the country.
The Minister said the SANDF is embarking on a process to secure two new reliable planes for the use of the President, Deputy President and former Deputy Presidents. This process started in February 2011 and is to be concluded as soon as possible in line with government procurement processes.
“Yesterday’s failure of the Deputy President to depart to Finland is very unacceptable. This is also an indication of the challenges we have with our old fleet of planes we inherited from the pre 1994 Government. They are now old and unreliable as a result we must rent. As demonstrated in this case even those we are renting can also not be reliable. This leaves us with no option but to own our planes that are reliable and secure” She said.
The Minister added that the age of the fleet of planes responsible for transporting the President, Deputy President and former Presidents has been a concern since she took office in 2009 and is receiving highest attention from the Council on Defence.
“We need to have our own reliable fleet that will allow the President, Deputy President and other dignitaries to be transported by us to travel in safe and reliable planes at all times. The SAAF must guarantee the safety of our leaders at all times, there is no room for mistakes” Minister said.
The Chief of the SANDF and the office of the Deputy President are making all arrangements for the Deputy President to continue with the remainder of his visit.
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