Costly landing for would-be pilots
CADETS from a failed flight academy that received R66million in government funding have been transferred to another school at a further cost of tens of millions.
Former presidential pilot Nhlanhla Dube received the money from the National Skills Fund over two years to train pilots from previously disadvantaged backgrounds at his school outside Heidelberg in Gauteng.
The government suspended the programme last year after several cadets raised concerns about safety and mismanagement.
Thirty-six cadets were subsequently absorbed into another flight school, in Port Alfred, at taxpayers’ expense.
Earlier this month, Dube applied to rejoin SAA, where he flew for several years before being seconded to the air force to help fly the presidential jet, and later going into private business.
The Department of Higher Education this week declined to clarify the cost of rescuing the pilot-training project. It also dismissed questions about an investigation into Dube’s school.
“Our contract with Vukani Aviation ended in December 2015 before we could conclude the investigation,” said department spokesman Khaye Nkwanyana.
“In order to fulfil our commitment to the cadets we then found and concluded a contract with 43 Air School [outside Port Alfred] to assist in completing the training.”
Vukani received about R1.2-million per pilot to train black pilots at Dube’s school, the South African Flight Training Academy.
The director of 43 Air School, Trevor Myburgh, confirmed the cadets were now being trained to Boeing 737 level.
“One can’t help feeling that they were caught up in a system,” he said. “There’s no point training pilots and then they don’t match employer requirements.”
Dube said he believed his flight school had been unfairly
Our contract ended before we could conclude the investigation
targeted because it was one of only two black-owned flight schools out of more than 300 in the country. White-owned schools receiving government millions were not subject to the same scrutiny, he said.
SAA spokesman Tlali Tlali confirmed Dube’s shortlisting for a position with the carrier: “[He] met all the minimum requirements for his application to be considered.
“We have every confidence in our processes [including the integrity checks] and believe they will enable the company to identify the right candidates.”