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The interior update will not occur in this contracting period due to a lack of funds.
An airplane carrying President Cyril Ramaphosa arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport, ahead of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation yesterday. Picture: AFP
Parliament continues to hear troubling reports about the impact of the South African National Defence Force’s (SANDF) budget constraints, with the latest report affecting President Cyril Ramaphosa and his deputy, Paul Mashatile.
The Joint Standing Committee on Defence received an update from Armscor on the status of the South African Air Force (SAAF) and South African Navy maintenance and acquisition contracts on Friday, and the outlook appears grim.
Selekane Folo from Armscor informed the committee that there is a R7.7 billion shortfall to fund support contracts for the SAAF over a three-year period, amounting to a R2.56 billion shortfall per year.
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“The lack of funding has been ongoing for a long period of time, and it has its consequences,” said Selekane.
These include reduced fleet availability, with only the bare minimum of maintenance being done; essential upgrades are postponed; higher maintenance costs are incurred due to supporting obsolete subsystems; and a large recovery cost is required to catch up on maintenance.
Maintenance of Ramaphosa’s jet
This has also affected the VVIP fleet, which has been unable to undergo maintenance due to a lack of funds.
The contract for the maintenance and support of Ramaphosa’s Boeing 737 Aircraft, contracted to Jet Aviation AG in Switzerland (the design authority for the aircraft’s interior), costs R440 million and was placed from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2026.
The contract for local support for maintenance, contracted to Dentec, costs R60 million and was placed on 1 December 2024 and ends 30 June 2026.
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“What we need as a requirement to maintain the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) is about R500 million, and currently, we are sitting with a shortfall of R414.9 million,” Selekane told the committee.
“There is an upcoming four-year maintenance that happens for about three months, but we can confirm as Armscor that the Air Force and we are trying to source funds to make sure that the check is well-funded.
“The major four-year maintenance is due in October 2025. This requires good planning and a scope of work from SAAF at least six months in advance. The scope of work is still to be finalised.”
SAAF: No interior maintenance
The interior update will also not occur in this contracting period due to a lack of funds.
“The BBJ is not fully funded as there are insufficient funds to conduct various refurbishments and upgrades in the aircraft, e.g Cabin refurbishment. Funds are only utilised for the C-Check and normal day-to-day maintenance.”
The Falcon fleet used by the deputy resident has not been spared either. The contract for the maintenance and support of the Falcon fleet, as well as its associated ground support and test equipment, is with Execujet MRO Services and was in effect from 1 March 2023, to 28 February 2026.
The value of the contract is R252.4 million, but the SAAF needs R142.1 million to maintain the fleet.
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