Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

The South African government signed a military aircraft deal with European aircraft manufacturer Airbus in Pretoria on Wednesday. The country will participate in the building and design of Airbus' new A400M military transport aircraft.

The agreement states that as the program matures between 2010 and 2014, South Africa would be allowed to take delivery of between eight and 14 planes. Eight aircraft would cost 837 million euros (about 1.1 billion US dollars).

The A400M, which would ultimately replace the SA National Defense Force's aging C130 transport fleet, is set to be in full production by 2009.

Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said that participating in the program would boost and revitalize the local aerospace industry.

"At this stage it's difficult to say exactly by how much the country will benefit but the ball park figure will be between 6 billion rand and 15 billion rand (about 2.62 billion US dollars)."

Defense Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said the acquisition of the aircraft would greatly benefit not only South Africa but the whole African continent.

He said the country had a large role to play in peace support initiatives and disaster management, which was costing "huge money " because flights had to be chartered.

"This deal will go a long way to equip our forces in the region, " he said.

The SANDF's current military transport and airlift capacity is carried by a small fleet of nine Hercules C130 aircraft which are due to be replaced by about 2010.

The deal was described as not only being of military value but also economic.

Francisco Fernandez Saintz, managing director of Airbus Military, said the company had already confirmed orders for 180 aircraft to be built -- a process in which South Africa would be completely involved.

Richard Thompson, senior vice president, commercial, said South Africa had become a global partner in a "benchmark program" which would see new military aircraft designed and built through a non- military process that would incorporate cutting-edge technology.

Local companies Denel and Aerosud have been named contributors because of their existing experience and capability in aircraft manufacture, but Thompson said that as the process moved forward more companies would be contracted.

"The C130s lasted for 50 years. There is no reason why the production life of the new planes won't be as long," he said, explaining that South Africa would be a partner for life.

The Democratic Alliance appealed on Friday for what it called a "secret arms deal" to acquire up to 14 Airbus military transport aircraft to be suspended until a meeting is held by the defence committee to address "critical questions that surround the deal".

The transport department announced on Thursday South Africa has committed to buying at least 837 million Euros worth of military aircraft in exchange for investment, technological knowledge, and jobs.

The country has agreed to participate in the A400M multi-role mission transport aircraft design and manufacture programme, after it accepted an invitation to do so by Airbus Military.

In return, South Africa is committed to procure between eight and 14 aircraft -- valued from 837 million Euros -- between 2010 and 2014.

The terms of the agreement between the South African government and Airbus Military were still being negotiated.

"We are confident that a Memorandum of Agreement will be signed in the coming weeks," the department said in a statement.

Airbus Military's Peter Jost said in September a University of the Witwatersrand study had shown that an interest in as few as eight of the about EU98 million (R778 million) aircraft would create at least 401 direct jobs and 2767 indirect employment opportunities over the programme's projected 50-year life.

It could also add R859 million to the country's gross domestic product over 15 years.

Jost said the SA Air Force needed the aircraft. The existing SAAF transport fleet, a dozen upgraded C130 medium transports and a few, smaller Spanish-built Casa light transports, could not meet future airlift requirements.

In a statement on Friday, DA defence spokesman Rafeek Shah said he had asked for an urgent meeting of the National Assembly's defence committee to discuss the matter.

Critical questions included whether the "contract (was) put out to tender", on what basis did the defence force require what appeared to be top of the line aircraft in the context of an already over strained defence budget, did the South African government approach the United States government to use surplus US Hercules C130s, and "why was the deal conducted in such secrecy".

"We believe that any deal of this nature should only be signed after a thorough investigation of how the current transport needs of the SANDF are being met. There is every possibility that the strengthening of existing arrangements may be the most cost effective option," Shah said.

An SA [South Africa] National Defence Force delegation led by Surgeon-General Rinus Jansen van Rensburg returned home on Thursday [9 December] from a goodwill visit to the Great Lakes region.

The two-day visit was to soldiers deployed as peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi.

Speaking at the South African bases, Van Rensburg praised the soldiers for the sacrifices they were making, saying their peace efforts were greatly commendable and acknowledged by the international community.

"This makes South Africa well respected. Your willingness to serve these neighbouring countries which have been ravaged by war is commendable and we salute you," he said.

He thanked the families of soldiers for letting them spend Christmas in foreign lands instead of spending it with them at home in South Africa.

The goodwill visit was sponsored by ABSA [Amalgamated Banks of South Africa], Sanlam [financial services group] and SAMI-SAFI [expansion untraced], and the delegation included SANDF [South African National Defence Force] personnel, businessmen and journalists.

Through the project gifts were presented to the soldiers at their bases in Kirundi and Kinshasa in the DRCongo, and Burundi, in the form of a bag and a booklet called "Why Jesus" from a Christian organization.

The trip was not trouble-free. The flight was stranded in Lusaka when it stopped to refuel on Tuesday [7 December]. Due to miscommunication between the airliner and Zambia's joint security personnel, the plane was not immediately allowed to leave the country.

The flight needed a clearance to proceed as it was registered as a business flight but had been found by Zambian authorities to be carrying soldiers.

Van Rensburg said this was understandable. The authorities had acted in this manner for security reasons and had handled the matter efficiently and professionally. The plane was delayed by four hours.

Most of the soldiers deployed to the Great Lakes areas will return to South Africa next year in May. Replacement soldiers will then be deployed in the Great Lakes.

But while it would not be easy for these soldiers to spend Christmas without their loved ones most of them were happy to serve their country in peace-keeping duties.

A young female sergeant, whose name tag read McClain, said it was an honour for her to be deployed in Kinshasa, even though her mother had initially opposed it. As a female soldier involved in such a mission, she had encountered problems with discrimination but said these had been sorted out.

Major Vivian Chamers, who has been at the Kinshasa base since November last year, said spending Christmas away from his family would be bearable as he had taken leave earlier in the year.

Asked about reports of misconduct by South African soldiers, Chamers said these were often exaggerated. "When young soldiers come here they find it difficult to be away from their families, and would then try to have a good time. Ultimately everyone is trying to do their best here."

When the delegation was driven in a troop convoy to the bases, the trust that South African soldiers had earned among the locals was evident.

Chamers said: "They are positive towards us because they understand that we are fighting the system which is causing the war and they also see South Africa as a good model."

Sergeant Ernest Rapiya disagreed, saying some of the population did not understand why the South African troops were there and that language was a barrier to good relations. However, many other soldiers seemed to be conversant in local languages such as Swahili.

Sergeant Moegamad Kariem, 26, who had previously been deployed to Goma in the eastern DRCongo, said being away from home was probably less difficult for him because he was single. He said he had enjoyed serving in Goma because it was much like Cape Town.

Last week, civilians fled clashes in the eastern part of the DRCongo, amid Western claims that Rwandan troops were operating in the area.

This was after Rwandan president Paul Kagame warned that his country would act against 8,000 to 10,000 Rwandan Hutu rebels taking shelter in the eastern DRCongo.

The South African ambassador to Kinshasa, Sisa Ngombane, was part of the goodwill delegation. He told Sapa it appeared that such elements were there but that the DRCongo government and the joint peace forces were addressing the problem.

Rwanda has twice invaded the DRCongo, in 1996 and 1998, to hunt down Rwandan Hutu rebels believed responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

Government is pleased to announce that it has accepted an invitation from Airbus Military for South Africa to participate in the A400M multi-role mission transport aircraft design and manufacture programme. In return, the government has committed to procure and take delivery of between eight and 14 aircraft as the programme matures between 2010-2014. The cost of eight aircraft would be euros 837m.

Negotiations are currently under way between the government and Airbus Military to determine the terms of agreement for the country's participation.

At the same time, Denel and Aerosud have engaged Airbus Military to develop the details of industrial partnership contracts around specific dedicated work-share packages that will become effective as soon as an agreement has been signed between Government and Airbus Military.

We are confident that a Memorandum of Agreement will be signed in the coming weeks.

Further announcements will be made as soon as more information becomes available.

1. Since at least 2000, the SA government, through the departments of trade and industry, public enterprises and defence have been developing a strategy for the long-term development and sustainability of South Africa's high technology aerospace sector.

2. Government's Integrated Manufacturing Strategy (through the dti) and the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Strategy (through the Department of Science and Technology) both emphasize the importance of building globally competitive capabilities in knowledge-intensive industries, of which aerospace is a prime example, if we are to grow our economic and industrial development away from resource-based industries. We have already had marked successes beyond all initial estimates in the automotive industry in this regard.

3. South Africa boasts strong engineering capabilities in the aerospace sector which provide a solid foundation for future development. However, shifts in the global environment towards mergers and acquisitions and increased pressure on profitability of country-specific programmes have encouraged governments and the industry to contemplate multinational, long-term investments in specific, high volume contracts. The A400M Programme is the only global aviation programme of its kind, offering launch countries unequalled opportunities to participate in ways that sustain and enhance their own industrial and technological base.

4. Of critical importance to government is the fact that the A400M programme provides the country with the opportunity to meet its growing international obligations, particularly in regard to peacekeeping and support, disaster relief and management, and a range of other civil, commercial and military missions.

5. The SANDF's [South African National Defence Force] current military transport and airlift capability is carried by a small fleet of nine Hercules C130 aircraft. They are reaching the end of their working life, and will need to be replaced by about 2010.

6. More important, experience has shown, and projections indicate, that the cargo carrying ability of the C130 and its various upgrades are insufficient to modern and future needs.

Already over the last three years, South Africa has had to spend over 100m rand to contract in privately owned airlift capabilities so that the SANDF could deploy personnel, resources and material into certain African peacekeeping operations.

7. The current proposal contains specific benefits for South Africa:

Firstly, guaranteed work-packages to industry, designed to meet global standards, will be in place for the next 17 years.

Being in at the beginning also gives our industry a strong chance to bid successfully for maintenance and upgrade work in the future. This will allow South African companies to be integrated into what could be the world's largest aviation supply chain.

Secondly, the partnership allows South African industry and the defence force to influence the design and industrialisation of the aircraft that will ensure, amongst other things, that the aircraft we are committed to purchase already incorporate many of the features we consider necessary for deployment according to our own needs.

Thirdly, the cost benefit to the country as a whole is greater than following a simple procurement process in 2010 as the country's investment is linked directly to the number of aircraft to which we commit, but the return on that investment will derive from the success of the whole programme. Furthermore, the payments are stretched over the whole period of the programme, thus ensuring that costs are more easily managed on a year-by-year basis, rather than on large commitments over a short period of time.

Zambian authorities briefly detained a passenger plane carrying 60 South Africans, 33 of them dressed in military uniform, when it landed at Lusaka International Airport for refueling, a Zambian air force official said Wednesday.

"The DC-9 plane belonged to Interlink and it made a stop-over in Zambia for a refuel on Tuesday," Mukumano told the state-run Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation.

"The plane was detained because the crew did not inform Zambian authorities that it was carrying military personnel when it landed in Zambia," Mukumano said.

He told the broadcaster that Zambian officials had lodged a complaint through Foreign Minister Kalombo Mwansa.

Senior South African military commanders including several generals were among the 33 in uniform, who were on a goodwill visit to South African soldiers in the Great Lakes region, a South African Defence Force (SANDF) spokesman told AFP in Johannesburg.

"Because it was a chartered flight and its manifest stated 'business trip', there was a small misunderstanding in Lusaka, when officials saw the South Africans in uniform," Colonel John Rolt said.

"The plane was briefly detained before it continuing on a journey to see our soldiers doing duty in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)," Rolt added.

South Africa, as part of ongoing United Nations peacekeeping missions, has troops based in both the two Great Lakes countries.

Last March in neighbouring Zimbabwe some 70 alleged mercenaries were arrested after their plane landed at Harare airport and put on trial in September accused of preparing to mount a coup plot in Equatorial Guinea.

The men were from several southern African countries but were all travelling on South African passports.

The South African National Defence Force [SANDF] says it is unlikely that one of its chartered flights was held back in Zambia yesterday over fears of mercenary activity.

An aircraft full of South African soldiers, among them high-ranking officials, was delayed for over two hours at a Lusaka air base. It is believed airport officials became suspicious when they discovered uniformed officers on the plane, even though the trip was classified as a business visit. The SANDF's (John Rolf) says it appears Zambian authorities were sceptical about why the soldiers were in the country.

[Rolf - recording] The Zambian authorities thought it was a business trip, and when the aircraft stopped to refuel, the door was open, and they saw uniformed personnel. This obviously caused some sort of concern. It was merely a confusion, and obviously a concern, with, you know, unexpectedly seeing uniformed personnel on board an aircraft. [End of recording]

(Rolf) says the plane was en route to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, to deliver good will Christmas gifts to SANDF soldiers stationed there.

Retiring Mozambican president Joachim Chissano will establish a foundation for the development of peace in Africa, he said at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Tuesday.

After being greeted by President Thabo Mbeki on his farewell tour, Chissano said he was not saying goodbye. When he retired in January, he would have more time for the people of Southern Africa.

Chissano ends 18 years in power in January.

A 66-person contingent and three Oryx helicopters from the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) is in Mozambique to assist with the collection of ballot boxes from inaccessible areas. The contingent will be operating until Friday at the latest, the SANDF said.