Northern Cape Airline a waste of money

The DA calls for an investigation by the Northern Cape Provincial Committee on Public Accounts into the validity of the deal brokered between the provincial government and the local aviation company Phakalane Airways. The DFA reports this morning that the deal will create a new state-sponsored airline that will operate only in the Northern Cape at a cost of millions to the Northern Cape provincial government.

It would appear that the primary purpose of this airline is to ferry government and business VIPs between Upington, Springbok and Kimberley.

There needs to be an urgent investigation into this deal. We need to know how much it will cost the Northern Cape government and what the economic benefits will be.

Flight services through SA Express and SA Airlink are already available to Upington. It is difficult to see why this airline is necessary and how it could be profitable given that SAA's operations are not profitable.

This is a classic case of ANC politicians putting their own comfort before the interests of the people of the Northern Cape. Millions are being wasted so that Sylvia Lucas, John Block and  other government officials can fly in luxury VIP flights, while the people of the Northern Cape continue to struggle with unemployment and poor service delivery.

The creation of this airline is an absurd waste of money.

The people of the Northern Cape need to vote to stop this kind of waste under the ANC. If we stop the waste and corruption, we can create more jobs and deliver better services. 

Statement issued by Andrew Louw, DA Leader in the Northern Cape, January 23 2014

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