October 2019 | www.sayer.com
82
S
AD LY, a large
number of people
just never manage
to comfortably y an
aircraft. Most of us
know at least
one
person who has
never succeeded
in reaching that
dream of nally
being able to call
him or herself
a pilot, despite
having great
intelligence, effort
and abilities ... and
money for all that
training.
Fortunately, these days
there are few barriers in aviation
that are based on gender, race, religion
or ethnicity, unlike other vocations and
avocations, many of which are segregated
on the basis of gender because of physical
differences between men and women.
Yet, despite efforts to create the same
opportunities to become a pilot for all
humans, the large majority of pilots are
white and male. Is this really a problem?
Well, some people think so.
Human rights, such as
those enshrined in our
national constitution,
are really
opportunities.
For example,
the right to
free speech
does not
mean that
you have to
shoot your
mouth off over
everything. You
are quite entitled
to keep quiet if you so
wish. Perhaps women are
just choosing not to become pilots as there
do not appear to be any physical, mental
or other reasons why women or non-white
persons are less able to become pilots. Yet
this disparity exists.
ENTER KARL MARX
Although Karl Marx’s philosophies are
widely discredited – and he was a bit of an
obnoxious fellow, having been imprisoned
for drunkenness and street disorder during
his university days – Marxism has had a
huge impact on modern history, surpassed
only by the spread of Christianity and
Islam. Indeed, our current government is
squarely based in Marxism and there is a
major growth in a form of cultural Marxism
in bureaucracies around the western world.
A fundamental Marxist tenet is the
concept of equality. Inequality is the bane
of all social and political systems. Marxism
basically searches for inequality, and when it
nds it, it deals with it by saying that anyone
who has more than you have, got it by
stealing it from you.
We hear this almost every day in SA
politics, particularly over the land issue.
It is a concept that sells very well to the
impoverished masses, despite it being
directly in conict with fundamental human
rights. Attacking the haves in order to mollify
the have-nots is ultimately destructive,
simply because it levels the playing eld
by ensuring that in the end, nobody has
anything. It does however encourage
corruption and enriches only a small political
elite. This Orwellian scenario is only too
evident in contemporary SA politics, and
highly visible within our Civil Aviation
Authority where senior executives are paid
large amounts of money, despite having few
AOPA BRIEFING
CHRIS MARTINUS - AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION – SOUTH AFRICA
Pilots are a pretty special bunch – and they
think so too. Not only does it take a great
deal of skill and learning to y an aircraft
safely, but the individual must have discipline,
mechanical sympathy, a range of aptitudes
and understanding of a broad range of
subjects from how an engine works to why it
rains sometimes.
Why Karl Marx
wasn’t a pilot
ABOVE: Is the root of the problem the
perception that pilots are white and unfairly
advantaged?
www.sayer.com | October 2019
83
or any aviation technical qualications or experience.
The few efforts by our CAA provide opportunities to enter aviation
to so-called previously disadvantaged groups have failed dismally.
ATTACK THE HAVES
It is very signicant that in SA politics, the political credentials
of the highest ofce-bearers are considerably more important than
their knowledge and skills. This is evident in the regular reshufing
of our ministers between different portfolios, despite them having
little or no knowledge about the ministries over which they preside.
These minsters’ function is not to ensure service delivery, but
to ensure that the basic Marxist tenets are followed.
Pilots and aircraft owners are bafed by CAA’s obstructive
attitudes, their ultimately unlawful attacks on airlines such
as CemAir, the bureaucratic demands, bungling and grossly
unnecessary delays in processing paperwork and general
hostility to the very people and organisations they are
mandated to serve.
A ne example is the current furore regarding failing
pilots who have minor hearing losses. Pilots, and
particularly private pilots, do not understand why it has
suddenly become necessary to jump through all kinds of
hoops, do extreme testing, obtain detailed medical reports
and try to process their data through a stonewalling CAA
bureaucracy. These pilots are enormously frustrated:
why, they keep asking, am I being failed because of a minor afiction
that can be remedied by simply turning up the volume control on my
headset? Why do I have to do absurdly ridiculous tests in hugely
expensive simulators just to prove I can actually hear adequately?
Appeals to CAA ofcials, who may well be skilled, knowledgeable
and even deeply sympathetic towards the victim, are met with apparent
blank incomprehension. It slowly dawns upon the aviators that CAA’s
obstructiveness is not just irrational, but also quite intentional. Let’s
take CAA to court, they cry. Let’s bring class action suits to force CAA
to perform its mandate instead of just destroying us.
A few other misguided souls still cling to the idea that this chaos
is simply due to incompetence and ignorance and that CAA can be
“helped” to provide the services it should.
SEE THE LIGHT
The problem is that few among us actually see the problem for
what it really is: that pilots and aircraft owners are an elite group – and
they are proud of it.
And that is what enrages the Marxists who control every sphere of
government in South Africa. They secretly believe – and sometimes
will admit openly – that people who have pilot licences, who own
aircraft, most of whom are white males, stole their privileged status
from the downtrodden masses through previous advantage and
ruthless repression. These elites must have their privilege removed
in order to restore equity and eliminate inequalities – even if the
methods used are grossly unlawful, dishonest, an abuse of authority
and are unlikely to pass judicial scrutiny.
Take us to court, say CAA. By the time you have managed to dodge
the obstacles and dilatory tactics that CAA’s lawyers will invariably roll
into your path, CAA’s political overlords will have come up with yet
another contorted way to make your aspirations in aviation just too
expensive and difcult to achieve. And, of course, you have paid huge
amounts of money to the legal fraternity to ght a ght that is no longer
relevant.
Surely the good people who are employed by CAA will help in the
ght against this ridiculous political farce? The problem is that their
hands are tied. If they do not carry out the objectives of their political
overlords, they are harassed, disciplined, suspended and red. They
cannot afford to nd themselves out on the street, with no food on
the table.
In response to a urry of suspensions and disciplinary procedures
within CAA, AOPA wanted some answers. Member of Parliament
Natasha Mazzone kindly asked the question of the Minister for a report
about disciplinary proceedings within the CAA. Unsurprisingly, the
Minister’s reply revealed that approximately 50% of all proceedings
and dismissals against CAA staff were for “failure to comply with
policy and procedures.”
QUO VADIS?
It is not news that the Marxist objectives of the current government
are dragging the country swiftly towards economic ruin, much like
happened in countries like Venezuela – and aviation is no exception.
Sadly, aviation and politics make for largely incompatible bedfellows,
but political realities must be faced to ensure general aviation’s
survival in South Africa.
AOPA South Africa has been well aware of these realities for
a considerable time and has been successfully protecting and
preserving our rights for many years. We will continue to do so.
j
The famous Time Magazine cover that may be at the heart
of the problems between the SACAA and its industry.
