There have been mixed reactions to the cabinet's decision this week to cancel a multibillion-rand deal to buy eight Airbus cargo planes.
The deal was initiated under former president Thabo Mbeki's watch. The Sunday Independent editor Makhudu Sefara asked him how the country ended up with this apparently costly deal.
Makhudu Sefara (MS): The second arms deal - as it is now known - came up under your administration. How did we end up here?
Thabo Mbeki (TM): What happened was with the engagement of the SANDF with these peacekeeping operations on the continent, we needed more capacity. The problem that arose was that the SA Air Force does not have the cargo planes it needs to carry food and supplies and military vehicles to areas of SANDF operations.
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So it has to hire cargo planes, so there was a feeling that the SANDF needs that capacity, because you have troops in Burundi, and you can't imagine the number of flights that have to be undertaken between South Africa and Burundi and the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Sudan and all of that, and therefore that it was better that the air force should acquire some capacity - cargo planes.
Then Airbus approached us to say they are building a new cargo plane to be used by military forces and they chose a few countries, I think it was 10 countries, that should come into this project that would then get preferential treatment in terms of the acquisition of the aircraft when the aircraft were finished.
There was a lot of competition globally for people to be part of this project because many air forces need this kind of capacity. There was very intense competition to get on to this and South Africa managed to get on this list.
The advantage that South Africa would have is that it would be one of the first countries to acquire this when it is finished at prices other than the market prices. The reason for it was because the SA Air Force was saying, with our operations on the continent, we can't sustain these operations by always going out to hire planes when we need to deliver cargo - which is not just your food supplies but also military equipment. It is better that we have domestic capacity.
The planes that South Africa has are small. That's where the matter came from.
MS: They appear expensive. Where they absolutely necessary?
TM: If there is a decision that the SANDF does not need that capacity, somebody must take that decision and we will continue to rely on chatering planes from other people, which would include hiring the same planes about which there is a debate now. There is no way the SANDF can operate for long distances without that capacity - it's got to come from somewhere.
MS: As chairman of the portfolio committee on defence, Nyami Booi warns about soldiers' salaries. Soldiers who must use these planes recently marched on the Union Buildings because they are paid a pittance. What comes first, their salaries or capacity?
TM: That's a false question. You see, unfortunately choices arise every day. There are competing demands, and you don't have inexhaustible resources so that you can address everything simultaneously.
I am saying there is no way you are going to operate effectively on the continent without this capacity... We felt that it was better to acquire this capacity, and the way it was approached was that quite quickly, let's acquire the cargo planes at these preferential rates (but then there were delays).
- This article was originally published on page 5 of Sunday Independent on November 08, 2009
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