AN AVIATION expert has uncovered “irregularities” at the Civil Aviation Authority in a four- month investigation, the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) said yesterday.  Zenzo Mahlangu, Satawu acting general secretary, said the expert helped the union compile a dossier, which was given to Transport Minister Sbu Ndebele three weeks ago for investigation. In the dossier, Satawu accused the aviation authority, which is responsible for safety in SA’s skies, of being wracked by management squabbles and inconsistencies in its “chain of command”.

These alleged irregularities, the union claimed, contributed to recent aircraft accidents.  Logan Maistry, spokesman for the Department of Transport, said the minister would “study” the dossier and “engage” with the aviation authority and the union in the new year. In January, Satawu sent a dossier to former public enterprises minister Brigitte Mabandla with allegations of mismanagement at South African Airways (SAA). Months later, SAA CEO Khaya Ngqula left his post after an investigation instituted by the SAA board, and later a forensic audit was carried out. Several accidents over the past year involved domestic carriers such as SA Airlink and the now defunct Nationwide. Last week, a private aircraft crashed outside Pretoria.

Mahlangu told Business Day the “irregularities” at the aviation authority revolved around managerial problems. Aircraft were allowed to fly when they had technical defects and were unfit to fly. Mahlangu said there were cases where someone in the chain of command would “disapprove” a defective aircraft, but others higher up in the ranks would later clear the aircraft for flight. There were squabbles among senior managers, he said. More than three senior managers were implicated, but Mahlangu declined to name them. The union has recommended a management overhaul to the minister.

Mahlangu declined to make public further details of the dossier until after the minister of transport had completed his “study” of it. The aviation authority said yesterday it was unable to comment on the substance of the allegations as it did not have the dossier. Spokesman Kabelo Ledwaba said the aviation watchdog could not comment on the claim involving the chain of command as it was a “generic statement”. Of the allegation of management squabbles, Ledwaba said: “This is something new and as such (I) do not have comment on it. It would have helped if we had seen the specific points raised in the dossier,” he said. “Notwithstanding, when the time is right and once we have seen the dossier, we can delve deeper into the allegations raised and if they are proven to be true, seek ways to resolve such.” 

The authority said it welcomed “constructive criticism and any opportunity to work with all our stakeholders, including labour”. SA continued to be rated well in the aviation sector, and the number of accidents continued to decline, Ledwaba said. This year, there were 120 accidents and incidents compared with 190 last year.  With just under 11000 registered aircraft, “we are indeed doing well”, he said.