23 MAY 2000
Following a
press article which appeared on 19 May 2000 in the Mail and Guardian,
the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has confirmed with the South African Police
Service (SAPS) that a docket has NOT been opened against it or
its CEO, Mr Trevor Abrahams, for corruption and
obstruction of justice.
The CAA is,
however, aware that a private citizen handed over a set of documents to the
SAPS on Tuesday 16 May 2000. This action was taken with the full knowledge and
support of the CAA which clearly indicated its intention to cooperate fully
with any investigation which may arise from this action. This commitment was
conveyed to Superintendent Piet Du Plessis in telephone conversations on
Tuesday 16 May and Friday 19 May.
Superintendent
Du Plessis has confirmed that as a result of these documents being passed to
the SAPS, a docket has been opened for an investigation to look into the
possibility of corruption and obstruction of justice involving some CAA officials.
Superintendent Du Plessis has also confirmed that thus far no progress has been
made as the documents were only received on 16 May 2000. The investigation will
only begin in earnest from 29 May and will be managed by Inspector Leon O'Conell.
"The
CAA will co-operate fully with the SAPS investigation in order to get to the
bottom of the matter. As previously stated, the CAA, its Board and the Minister
of Transport consider the possibility of fraud within the CAA and in its
application of civil aviation regulations very seriously. We will not allow
aviation safety to be compromised and we will do everything in our power to
ensure safety standards are maintained," said Mr
Israel Skosana, Chairperson of the CAA Board.
Due to the
substantive discrepancies and misrepresentation of information in the Mail
and Guardian article, which has been acknowledged by the journalist,
the CAA and CEO reserves its right to institute legal action and seek full
redress and compensation for the defamation of character and the
misrepresentation of the facts which are contained in this press report.
The article
also made reference to Mr Abrahams' own pilot licence. In addition to a valid South African Private
Pilots Licence with a night rating, Mr. Abrahams is
also the holder of a valid USA Commercial Pilots Licence
and instrument rating since 1984 and received a Flight Instructor rating in
1985.
The CAA
categorically states that Mr. Abrahams has not been implicated in the
allegations relating to fraud surrounding air transport pilot (ATP) licence examinations. The questions relating to Mr Abrahams' licence, which have
also appeared in a previous media report on 30 January 2000, were fully
resolved in a meeting between the CAA and Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) -
South Africa held on 30 March. It was agreed that the procedures employed were
in fact in line with standard CAA policy. Notice to this effect was
communicated in the CAA media release on 13 April 2000 and enclosed below.
The CAA
announced on Wednesday 17 May that its internal investigation into the
allegations regarding ATP examination fraud had determined that prima facie
evidence exists that one set of ATP examination papers were leaked by an
employee of the Directorate of Civil Aviation in the Department of Transport in
1997, prior to the establishment of the CAA in October 1998.
The CAA's
investigation conducted by its Legal Manager, Mr KC Marobela was, however, unable to assemble evidence to
conclusively support the allegations as set out in the affidavit, which the CAA
received on 24 March 2000. The two CAA staff who were
named in the affidavit are currently on suspension.
As a result
of the findings of its official investigation and the considerable public
interest in this matter, the CAA announced the establishment of an independent
review panel on Wednesday 17 May. The mandate of the Review Panel is to (a)
review the investigation into these allegations; (b) consider any additional
information; and (c) identify appropriate action, which could be taken. The
mandate of this Review Panel will include recommending what aspects of this
case be referred to any other authorities, which may
be able to shed further light on the allegations.
"The
Independent Review Panel was proposed by the CAA management in consultation
with the Board to ensure that the truth prevailed and that no sector of the
industry could feel that a biased evaluation had taken place. For these
reasons, the Panel comprises labour, business and
legal representation," said Mr Abrahams.
The Panel
will be headed by Senior Advocate Vincent Maleka, supported by two aviation
experts in the form of Captain Deryck Leathers,
President of the Airline Pilots Association of South Africa and Mr John Morrison, Chief Executive, Airlines Association of
Southern Africa.
Mr. Abrahams
can be contacted on 082-557 5069.
P 0 Box 796
Kempton Park
1610
South Africa
Tel 1: (+27 11) 394-5310
Fax: (+27 11) 970-1357
E-mail: alpasa@iafrica.com
30 March
2000
Following an
open and forthright discussion during a meeting on 30 March 2000, we believe
that the CAA and ALPA-SA representatives present now have a clear understanding
of the circumstances surrounding the CEO of the CAA's incident. The
communication content and procedures employed were in accordance with standard
CAA policy. ALPA-SA believes that this matter has been satisfactorily concluded
and that both parties should pro-actively promote close co-operation on the
many significant and serious issues currently facing the industry.
D. Leathers
President