Centurion Aerospace Village: Minister Davies to account to Parliament
23 September 2015
The DA can confirm that the Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies, will appear before Parliament in the 4th quarter to account for and explain the complete disarray that is unfolding at the paid for yet non-existent Centurion Aerospace Village (CAV).
This comes after today’s sitting of the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry, in which the Committee unanimously accepted the DA’s proposal to call the Minister before Committee at the soonest available time.
Last week the DA held a press conference outside the site of the CAV, where my colleague, Patrick Atkinson MP, revealed a forensic report which shows that almost R100 million of public funds was squandered on developing this non-existent aerospace village. All that exists is a vacant plot of barren land and a few piles of sand.
The CAV promised to create thousands of high-skilled niche job opportunities and was set to become a key feature of the South African aerospace industry. Sadly, this has not materialised due to inaction by the DTI. I will be specifically asking Minister Davies how many job opportunities have been lost in this regard, and what he will be doing to rectify this.