By Craig McKune
No, the SA Navy's multimillion-rand submarine is not "brain-dead". Nobody "plugged it into the wrong socket" and its electronics are not shorted, says Navy spokesperson Greyling van den Berg.
He was responding to a tabloid newspaper report on Tuesday that negligence at Simon's Town Naval Base had left the SAS Manthatisi "completely unusable". "Whilst connected from shore supply, a fault resulted in a few fuses being tripped. This is exactly what happens ... at home, where the fuses prevent damage to your electrical appliances."
Another newspaper report recently proclaimed the sub a "dud", saying it was "plagued by serious defects" and had "languished" in the dry dock since its arrival as one of three bought in the multibillion-rand arms deal.
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Van den Berg said the submarine is simply "in a prolonged maintenance period in order to increase her lifespan". He said this is in accordance with the SA Navy business plan, which holds one sub in maintenance while the other two are operational.
craig.mckune@inl.co.za
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This article was originally published on page 3 of Cape Times on September 24, 2008
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