NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO 526
DATE REPLY SUBMITTED: FRIDAY, 11 MARCH 2011
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: FRIDAY, 25 FEBRUARY
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: NO 3 â 2011)
Mr M S F de Freitas (DA) asked the Minister of Transport:
Whether the Civil Aviation Authority has undertaken any exercises with the
(a) SA Police Service and (b) SA Air Force; if so, with regard to each
specified exercise, (i) when did it take place, (ii) what was the nature of
the exercise and (iii) what were the (aa) objectives and (bb) outcomes?
NW572E
REPLY:
The Minister of Transport:
a)
The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) assisted with a single
exercise in Airspace Border Security coordinated by the South African Air
Force (SAAF) and the South African Police Service (SAPS). The SACAAâs role
was to publish the Air Defense Information Zone (ADIZ) on request from the
SAAF and to provide an information and guidance service with respect to
potential transgressions of the Civil Aviation Regulations to the SAPS
officers that interacted with aircraft owners on the ground.
i) This exercise was held from 16 â 23 February 2011 in response to
the Cabinet Memorandum of 2009.
ii) The exercise was held in the Limpopo Province and Northern
Mpumalanga area and covered the airspace from latitude 23 degrees
north to the national border with Mozambique, Zimbabwe and
Botswana. In terms of the proclaimed ADIZ all pilots flying in the
area between those dates had to communicate a flight plan to SAAF,
whereupon they were allocated a Flight Authorization Code (FAC)
that was to be used when they encounter air patrols by the SAAF.
iii)
(aa) The objective of the exercise was to effect control over illegal
cross-border movements of contraband and persons by air, in line with
similar control measures that exist on the ground at border control
points. The South African Air Force provided air patrols and flights
without a FAC were requested to land at Polekwane International Airport
for scrutiny by the SAPS and other border control Government Departments.
(bb)
The outcome of the exercise is currently being assessed by the SAAF and
SAPS, but initial feedback are that valuable intelligence has been
gathered on illegal cross-border air activities. This includes data on
individual movements that relates to rhino poaching activities that is
part of an ongoing investigation. From a SACAA perspective, a number of
queries have been raised with respect to aircraft and pilot
documentation that was not found to be in order upon inspection by SAPS.