Air force museum closed yet again
THE South African Air Force Museum in Forest Hill has been temporarily closed – again.
This is the second time the museum has closed its doors in the past seven months while contracts for regular reserve force staff are reviewed.
A note at the gate to the museum reads: “PE museum closed by Lt-Col O’Connor in Pretoria until further notice.”
The museum, which closed on Friday, is manned by five reserve force personnel, who work on a month-to-month basis.
And as was the case in October, staff are awaiting days to be allocated to them, according to the museum curator Captain Mark Kelbrick.
“The closure in PE is just a temporary thing. By June 1, the museum should be operational again.
“If I have it my way, it will be opened way sooner. It is essentially admin and procedure which are causing the temporary closure,” he said.
“The museum is taken care of by reserve force personnel. We are busy reviewing and waiting for work days to be allocated to them.
“I am in Pretoria doing all I can to speed up the process. There is one technical guy still on site,” Kelbrick said.
A reservist at the museum, who asked not to be named, said: “We are all reservists who work here. If there is no work available we don’t work, it’s that simple.
“We don’t make any decisions here in Port Elizabeth regarding the museum ... we get our orders from Pretoria.”