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DA calls on SAAF Chief to explain grounding of Rooivalk helicopters
Helicopter squadron's troubles precisely kind of information Lindiwe Sisulu is trying to hide from Parliament
Committee on Defence and Military Veterans will have to interrogate SAAF's state of readiness





The Democratic Alliance (DA) believes that chief of the South African Air Force, General Carlo Gagiano, should appear before the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans to explain why the air force's Rooivalk attack helicopters have reportedly been grounded and are in storage outside Bloemfontein.

A number of recent reports suggest that most of the Rooivalk attack helicopters, operated by the South African Air Force's 16 Squadron, have been grounded and are in storage.

The entire fleet of attack helicopters - that have reportedly cost the taxpayer up to R8 billion to develop - appear to be in "mothballs".

A damning report in Jane's Defence Weekly (14 July 2010), the world's premier defence magazine, reports that because of a lack of funding the Rooivalk attack helicopters "are currently in storage".

Moreover, the Cape Times (11 August 2010) reported that the Rooivalk attack helicopters have been grounded because of "engineering problems".

The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Lindiwe Sisulu, has refused to brief the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans, on the combat readiness of the defence force. The fact that the air force's attack helicopters squadron is in deep trouble is exactly the kind of information that is being hidden from parliament.

The Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans have a constitutional duty to provide effective scrutiny and oversight of the defence department and will therefore have to drill down into the state of readiness of the South African Air Force.

The DA will therefore call on Mnyami Booi, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans, to invite Chief of the South African Air Force, General Carlo Gagiano, to brief members of the portfolio committee on:

• why the attack helicopters have reportedly been grounded and are in storage; and
• planning for the future state of the Rooivalk programme in the South African Air Force.