View Document - Parliament of South Africa

615 FRIDAY, 17 OCTOBER 2008
616
Northern Cape
Rank (bb) Experience years in SAPS (aa) Qualifications (cc)
Superintendent 5 National Senior Certificate
Commercial Pilot Licence
All vacant posts for officers are
advertised and the same procedure
that is followed to fill other vacancies
in the SAPS, is followed to
determine which applicant should be
placed in the relevant post. Factors
like equity, qualifications and experience
are considered. A panel recommends
the most suitable candidate
for the post after all the candidates
are interviewed.
(iii) (aa) Equipment:
The Police Aviation industry is
very dynamic and new hightech
equipment is constantly
developed, resulting in old
equipment becoming outdated.
This equipment is upgraded or
replaced regularly. This places a
burden on the Air Wing’s budget
and at times not all of the
required equipment can be procured
immediately given its
cost.
(bb) Skills:
There is a huge shortage of
skilled pilots and aircraft maintenance
engineers worldwide.
The SAPS Air Wing is no exception
and pilots and aircraft
maintenance engineers are constantly
lured to the private sector
with better remunerative
packages and well-structured
career paths.
(cc) Resources:
Aircraft in the Air Wing are
limited to only two or three per
province and need to be managed
with great care. From time
to time, it is necessary to move
resources from one province to
another to maintain an efficient
aerial policing capacity.
(c) (aa) Equipment:
With a limited budget, the needs
are prioritised annually to procure
priority equipment. This equipment
is maintained at a very high
standard in order to extend its
usability as far as possible. Since
2000 the Air Wing has enlarged its
fleet with 13 Eurocopter AS350
and six Robinson R44 helicopters
which will be delivered within this
financial year. A Pilatus PC 12,
Learjet 31 and a Cessna Sovereign
have also been procured since
2000. The Air Wing is in the
process of replacing its old FLIR
cameras with new generation high
technology ones.
(bb) Skills:
Scarcity allowances are paid to
pilots and aircraft maintenance
engineers in an effort to retain
their specialised skills. The SAPS
Air Wing has embarked on its own
training programme for pilots and
aircraft maintenance engineers to
fill the gap. Five helicopter pilots
who were trained by the SAPS Air
Wing have already qualified to
function as pilots in command of
SAPS helicopters. Five more are
still being trained.
(cc) Resources:
All the provincial units have been
allocated at least two aircraft to
enable them to render a more
effective service. The structure of
the units has been amended so that