VVIPs gets more expensive flight time while defence services crumble
7 June 2016
The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has once again displayed an unshakeable commitment to maintaining the luxurious lifestyle of Cabinet as evidenced in a reply to a DA parliamentary question on the matter of South African Air Force (SAAF) flight hours being bizarrely diverted to transporting so-called “Very Very Important Persons” (VVIPs).
In the current budget, the total number of flying hours for training and other mandatory defence needs has been slashed to 5000 hours, while the VVIP transport allocation receives a 200-hour bump. 1000 hours – 20% – of the SAAF budgeted flight time is now allocated to the transport of the President and his friends, while the remaining 4000 hours must cover all missions and training.
This follows the Minister’s commitment to purchase a new VVIP jet for the President, which could cost up to R4 billion of taxpayers’ money. As it stands, pilots are already unable to fulfil flight time requirements, and hasty training trips to foreign countries have to be made to cope.
The Minister states in her reply that, “The flying hours recorded are informed by the serviceability of aircrafts.” In other words, the flight time is limited by the functionality of our aircraft, which are in a state of disrepair. Unfortunately, the SAAF has already suffered a 37.6% budget cut to technical support services, so the situation is likely to deteriorate even further.