Dear Editor
The Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, is failing to play open cards with Parliament on how she is dealing with a failure of air traffic safety and air transport infrastructure. Planes are flying within the bare legal minimum of navigation services, and many of our airports are crumbling.
The Star Newspaper’s exposé yesterday about the crisis at ACSA, including the shocking jet-fuel debacle at OR Tambo International Airport, shows an entity in freefall.
Worse still, the Minister’s silence on the Airports Company Board’s failure prevents Parliament from holding those responsible accountable for these failures because she is withholding critical information.
To access and expose the vital information that Minister Creecy is sitting on, the DA has prepared two applications in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, and will submit them this week:
- To access an independent panel report into failures of the Air Traffic Navigations Services, which she has been in possession of privately for almost two months now, and
- To access the minutes of Minister Creecy’s meetings with the Board of the Airports Company South Africa, about their spectacular management failures. None of the pressing details of these meetings are being made public or reported to Parliament.
What does Minister Creecy have to hide in this Air Traffic Navigation report, or in the Airports Company Board engagements?
South Africa’s tourism sector desperately needs safe and reliable air transport, and we cannot afford for this part of our economy to be at risk. Our country cannot afford airlines to be disrupted, airlines grounded, or airports closed.
The DA will fight to protect the economy from a failing Airports Company and failing Air Traffic Navigation Service and what appears to be a Minister protecting them.
For months the DA has been pushing for Minister Creecy to come to Parliament and face tough questions over the state of the Airports Company of South Africa and the failures of the Air Traffic Navigation Services – both of these areas are critical for safe passenger and freight air traffic.
It is worrying that MPs have to submit PAIA applications to get information which the Minister should have shared with us already.
Once these two critical pieces of information are available to the DA and to Parliament, we will be in a position to hold the Minister and the Board to account so that Air Traffic Navigation and South Africa’s airports can be fixed.
Regards
Dr Chris Hunsinger MP
DA Spokesperson on Transport