MyZA

News, Directory, Events and Other Stuff

You are here: Home / News / Calling Minister Creecy to Account

Calling Minister Creecy to Account

Dear Editor

Growing incidents of Air Traffic Navigation system issues, Air Traffic Controller capacity issues, and dilapidation at airports across the country demands proper investigatory oversight and accountability from Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport. The DA will write to the Committee Chairperson, requesting an appearance by Minister Barbara Creecy for her to transparently explain the status of these, her plans to fix them, and for her to provide the content of an independent investigatory report to the Committee.

Minister Creecy is in receipt of a report by a panel of experts into the failures of the Air Traffic Navigation Services company, which found gaps in safety practices and reliability issues in surveillance, navigation, and communication systems of the national ATNS, but this report has not yet been provided to Parliament.

While Creecy has already acted to suspend the ATNS CEO Nosipho Mdawe we see this as nothing but an attempt to save face, rather than a genuine commitment to systemic reform, change and improvement. And until the full report detailing all the flaws in ATNS is provided to Parliament, its oversight function is being severely undermined. Creecy cannot be investigator, judge and jury of her own Ministerial function.

While ATNS is not providing full scale safety and navigation services in the sky, ACSA is not providing them on the ground.

In January 2025, flights at Cape Town International Airport were delayed and diverted due to a fuel pump failure under ACSA’s management.

At the same time, fuel shortages at OR Tambo International Airport seriously affected some international carriers.

In March 2025, passengers at George Airport faced chaos due to ongoing failures in ATNS’s navigation system, causing severe delays and cancellations.

The DA has long warned that ACSA and ATNS are failing under incompetent leadership, often due to ANC cadre deployment. These failures are not just inconveniences; they pose an existential threat to tourism, business investment, and South Africa’s international reputation as a transport hub.

Minister Barbara Creecy, alongside the senior management of the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) and Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS), must account to Parliament on the increasingly dismal state of our aviation infrastructure.

As an economy that relies on tourism, we cannot afford the impression to be created that our air transport safety is a risk. Minister Creecy must play open cards both on the true state of the issues, and on her urgent plans to rectify them.

Getting our air transport safety urgently up to scratch cannot be another ANC Ministerial example of talk without action. The time for air safety action is now.

Regards

Dr Chris Hunsinger MP
DA Spokesperson on Transport

Category: Tag:

If you feel strongly about this article then feel free to send MyZA a ‘Letter to the Editor’ using the submission form below:

Letter to the Editor

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
If this is in response to an article please include that article title here or as the lead in for the first paragraph of your Letter below.

Separate tags with commas

Localise your letter by naming the city your words are about. Add relevant words describing your subject. Single comma separated words of no more than 5
Your Name(Required)
Your Name will be linked to the website below.
Your personal, business or social media web site
Choose NO to not set up a user account on MyZA. User Accounts will allow you to submit letters under your own Author Name

3 Latest Letters to the Editor:

  • Older Persons Grants Land Today — No Need to Queue at Dawn

    Dear Editor, Older Persons grants are paid today, 30 October, under SASSA’s revised November payment schedule — with disability grants on Monday 2 November, children’s grants on Tuesday 3 November, and grants under review on Thursday 5 November. Two things every beneficiary should know. First, grant money does not expire on payment day. It stays…

  • November Grants Pay Early – No Need to Queue at Dawn

    Dear Editor, I run SAGrant (sagrant.co.za), a free resource helping South Africans navigate SASSA grants. November grants pay earlier than usual. Older Persons grants are paid on Friday 30 October, Disability grants on 2 November, and Child Support and other grants on 3 November. Grants still under review are paid on 5 November. The money…

  • NSFAS 2027 applications close on 31 October — SASSA households, apply now

    Dear Editor, I run SAGrant (sagrant.co.za), a free resource helping South Africans navigate SASSA grants. NSFAS applications for the 2027 academic year close on Friday 31 October 2026, and no extension is expected. If your household receives a SASSA grant, your child already passes the NSFAS financial eligibility test — but they still have to…

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ag man! [Ach-man] This is the Afrikaans equivalent to “Oh man!” and is often used at the beginning of a sentence to express pity, resignation or irritation.Example: “Ag, man!” / “Ag, no man!” / “Ag, shame man!”

  2. Bliksem – to hit. This is a derogative term meaning to hit or punch someone.Example: “I’ll bliksem you!”