by the Minister of Transport MAC MAHARAJ
on Monday 25 January 1999
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for inviting me to be with you today to celebrate ATNS’s Isando office and Training College acquiring ISO 9001 certification.
This certification is the formal recognition that the College and the Isando Office are of international management standards.
ATNS committed itself last year to the implementation of a formal quality management system when it sought dual certification from two acclaimed certification bodies - the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) and the Societe Generale de Surveillance (South Africa International Certification Services (SGS SA)). To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time in South Africa that a dual listing has been sought and obtained.
By achieving the ISO 9001 certification, a recognised standard in more than 90 countries worldwide, ATNS has not only positioned itself as a world-class organisation and global player, but it has also reduced the competitive advantage that three other global air navigation service providers have enjoyed to date.
Therefore today is a major milestone in ATNS’s vision of becoming a preferred, world-class supplier of air traffic navigational and associated services to the region.
This achievement underscores a lesson that we as a country have learnt time and time again since our re-entry into the world economy in 1994: If we want to compete on the world arena our services have to be of world standard: be it in safety, customer confidence or client service; or a combination of them all.
And to get to that standard we need, as South Africans, to address the inequalities of our past and build a new platform that is based on equity, which is the foundation stone of our new democracy.
It is only through this long, and often painful, process that we start building together as a nation to achieve the excellence that we are capable of.
That is why I am pleased to hear that 75% of the South African students currently studying at the College are from previously disadvantaged groups.
And that the opening of the doors of learning at this College has been accompanied by a commitment to make it succeed through the establishment last year of an accelerated programme for the development and training of
technically skilled people to ensure a sufficient number of technical personnel for the future.
During 1999 this programme will be advanced to assist disadvantaged students progress through the training programme.
I am also pleased to see that 25 of the students at the college are from our neighbouring SADC states and that ATNS is accommodating the training needs not only of South Africa, but the region we live in as well.
Over the past year, 153 students from other parts of our continent have passed through the College. It is hoped that these numbers will increase as we roll out the new business plan for the College.
Every effort is being made to make the College accessible and the best training provider for Africa; and I have no doubt that ATNS will be a role model not only for the future delivery of air traffic services in the world, but also for the training of highly sought after technical personnel.
I would like to take this opportunity to formally welcome the new managing director of ATNS, Mr Johan van Vollenhoven, and thank him for the commitment and energy he has already shown in this area.
The commitment of ATNS to regional development underscores the fact that the fate of South Africa and the Southern Africa region are inextricably tied to together. If we are to build, we must build together as a region.
Nothing has shown this more clearly that the need for integrated air navigational systems over Southern Africa as narrow regionalism will never guarantee safety in our skies. Within SADC we have laid a solid foundation for partnerships in the implementation of CNS/ATM and are starting discussions on the joint provision of air navigation services in our region and in Africa.
To give effect to these strategic initiatives the challenge is not only for governments in SADC and Africa to allow airspace to be controlled from a central point, but also to require us all to work together to harmonise our standards, establish common licencing mechanisms and standardise our technologies.
ATNS operations in the SADC region with regards to the VSAT system will also be certified, thereby demonstrating ATNS’s commitment of service excellence to its SADC partners.
It is ATNS’s objective to obtain ISO 9001 certification for all its operations within South Africa by the end of the 1999/2000 financial year.
This commitment, together with good international management systems and a well managed capex programme, places ATNS in a good position to continue providing excellent service well into the 21st century, when they will no doubt be seeking ISO 14001 (Environmental Management) certification.
Once again congratulations, and I wish you safe skies for your journey ahead.
Issued by Didi Moyle: PA and Media Liaison Officer to the Minister of Transport
Didi Moyle
PA and Media Liaison Officer to the Minister of Transport
Pretoria: (012) 309 3131 (phone) or (012) 328 3194 (fax)
Cape Town: (021) 457260 (phone) or (021) 461 6845 (fax)
email: moyle@mweb.co.za
or moyled@ndot.pwv.gov.za
(Pretoria only)
cell: 082 808 5108