January 2020 | www.sayer.com

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I

T has been a tradition for the

AOPA President and some ofce-

bearers to pay a courtesy call,

introduce themselves and exchange

pleasantries when a new Director

(previously Commissioner) for Civil

2011 and this formed a cordial basis for

our CAA dealings during his tenure. The

meeting was attended by Thwala and

CAA communications executive Phindiwe

Gwebu, with Koos Marais, Meent Borcherds

and me making up the AOPA contingent.

The meeting was pleasant and friendly

and despite a little turbulence here and

there on issues on which CAA and AOPA

do not necessarily agree, laid the basis for a

agitated. We put that down to understandable

jitters when facing aviation representatives

so soon after being appointed to such a

dauntingly important position as chief of

almost everything to do with aviation. It

was only later that we realized that Khoza’s

background was simply in airport security,

in which we would likely be engaging in the

future. Whenever he mentioned a particular

aspect of aviation, Khoza would stop the

meeting and ask her secretary to get the

relevant senior executive heading that

department to come and join the meeting.

Koos and I were initially pleased that

we would get to meet the whole gang, some

of whom we already knew, and others who

were new to us.

engagement with these AOPA brutes in

which they were expected to vigorously

defend Khoza’s clearly anxious insecurity.

While Koos continued with his affable

presentation of the areas in which we wished

to engage with the CAA over the coming

years, we found ourselves faced with a

growing glowering horde of individuals who

began to pick on several of the points raised

by Koos. Although the meeting was to do

are, we surprisingly found ourselves having

to defend against a number of attacks which

seemed calculated to turn the meeting into a

eld of conict.

Koos continued undeterred. He said that

AOPA would be happy to have one of our

we were faced with a room full of people

laughing derisively at us, but obviously not

knowing why.

Khoza did nothing to bring things back to

an even keel. We continued to be peppered

with aggressive questions and antagonistic

remarks. As the meeting degenerated into a

self-fuelled mob frenzy and bizarre attacks,

I nally picked up my things and headed for

the door. Koos followed suit.

Ever since the rst meeting several years ago where my

predecessor, Dr Koos Marais and I met the newly-appointed

Acting Director for Civil Aviation Ms Poppy Khoza, AOPA

South Africa has had grave misgivings. Not about aviation

security in the traditional sense, but about the security of the

future of general aviation in South Africa

Zakhele Thwala’s tenure as Acting DCA

ended unhappily. The Civil Aviation Act

allows the Minister of Transport to appoint

appointed DCA, a circumstance which could

be disastrous.

Clearly, the legal provision for an Acting

Director was being abused because Thwala

likely did not have the technical experience

and qualications which are mandated by the

Act if a full Director is to be appointed.

In a perversion of the law, the Minister

appointed Khoza as Acting DCA instead.

The Minister seemed to think that simply

Khoza’s arbitrary refusal to issue an airport

licence was brought before the Civil Aviation

Appeals Committee for review. Not only did

the CAAC overturn Khoza’s decision, but

it afrmed the challenge made by AOPA

that Khoza’s appointment was invalid. The

Minister thereafter lost no time in going

through the steps prescribed by the Act to

appoint Khoza to the position of DCA, but

ignored the requirement that the candidates