Question NW707 to the Minister of Public Enterprises
05 May 2021 - NW707
Lees, Mr RA to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises
(1) What are the details of the crew of the SA Airways (SAA) aircraft that departed on 24 February 2021 to the Kingdom of Belgium to collect another batch of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines, including but not limited to (a) number of crew members, (b) the role of each crew member, (c) the names of each crew member, (d) the length of service in the roles that each specified crew member carried out and (e) details of regulatory training of the flight crew; (2) What are the details of the procurement process followed in order to select the SAA air services to fetch the vaccines from Belgium; (3) Were all aviation regulations and requirements for the aircraft and pilots adhered to; if not, (a) what exemptions were issued, (b) by whom were exemptions issued and (c) what facility was used for the flight deck crew training? NW826E
Reply:
(1) The Department is unable to provide this information due to the industrially charged environment at SAA and the risk that such a disclosure could pose to employees concerned. However, DPE can confirm that the flight was operated by an experienced Captain, First officer, and Flight engineer.
(2) SAA has been utilized, as a 100% government-owned entity, at the request of government, on numerous occasions, in supporting the pandemic related efforts: repatriation of citizens, collection of PPEs etc. SAA has also assisted international organisations such as the World Food Program to distribute its aid to neighbouring countries in the continent.
(3) SAA complied with SAA requirements to operate the flight. The exemptions obtained were in relation to crew re-currency in the following areas:
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- External training facility.
- External instructor qualification to conduct training for SAA pilots.
- Pilots regaining recency.
- Recurrent training: