The Minister of Transport, Ms. Barbara Creecy has established a Committee of Aviation Experts to investigate the root cause of problems that have affected the Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) in recent times regarding flight instrument procedures and the delays of flights at various airports. The Minister has established the Committee in consultation with the ATNS Board.
The ATNS is responsible for the maintenance of flight instrument procedures such as the standard instrument departures; standard arrival route and enroute procedures. However, the entity has struggled in recent times to do so. It has also struggled with recruitment, training and retention of flight procedure specialists to update these flight instrument procedures.
Brief Timelines
In April 2023, the SA Civil Aviation Authority identified that many flight procedures at eleven airports did not meet the periodic maintenance standards specified by the ICAO and the civil aviation regulations. As a result, these procedures were suspended.
On 20 August 2024, immediately after being appointed as Minister of Transport, Creecy held an oversight meeting with all aviation entities in which the ATNS was instructed to develop a comprehensive plan to update these flight instrument procedures and address flight delays at various airports.
On 12 September 2024, the Minister held a meeting with the aviation industry where the ATNS was given an opportunity to present its plan to the industry.
On 12 September 2024, it was also agreed in the meeting with the Industry that the Minister would convene bi-weekly meetings between the aviation industry and the ATNS to monitor the implementation of the ATNS plan. The Minister has continued to convene these periodic meetings to date.
Establishment of the Committee
However, the Minister believes that the time has come for a deeper diagnosis of the problems at the ATNS with a view to finding sustainable solutions - given the strategic importance of the ATNS to aviation safety specifically and broadly to aviation and tourism growth .
It is against this backdrop that the Minister took a decision to appoint a committee of aviation experts following months of working with the ATNS and the aviation industry to deal with the submission of revised flight procedures to the South African Civil Aviation Authority to address flight delays at various Airports.
This process has seen numerous flight procedures returned to the ATNS for improvement and has continued to cause costly delays to the airlines and significant inconvenience to passengers.
In more recent times the ATNS has also lost part of its technical capacity due to resignation of air traffic controllers.
Mandate of the Committee
The mandate of the committee is therefore to investigate the root causes of all these problems with a specific focus on the following:
- Operations
- Delays in capital spending on infrastructure
- Capacity and training programmes.
The committee will function for an initial period of six months and is expected to submit its first preliminary diagnostic report to the Minister and the ATNS Board by the end of January 2025.
It will also assist the ATNS executive management to implement the committee’s recommendations, once approved by the Minister and the ATNS Board.
The Minister will publish the notice in the government gazette and newspapers to inform the aviation stakeholders and the public regarding the appoint of the Committee of Experts.
Committee Members
The Committee of Experts comprises of the following aviation experts:
Ms. Wrenelle Stander who has over 30 years of work experience in the aviation and energy industries. She has extensive experience in both the public and private sectors. She excels at finding the intersection between these two areas, which has been consistent throughout her various roles.
Prior to joining Wesgro as the CEO in October 2021, she held three other CEO roles, including that of Comair Limited, Managing Director of Sasol Gas Limited as well as Managing Director of Air Traffic and Navigation Services Company. She has extensive Board experience serving as both an Executive Director and Non-Executive Director. She is currently an independent, Non-Executive Director of Sishen Iron Ore.
Her academic credentials include an MBA from Oxford Brookes University in the United Kingdom and a BA (Hons) degree from the University of Cape Town.
Mr. Peter Marais served as the Head of Air Navigation Services at the Namibia Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) from July 2017 to September 2020, overseeing the provision of air navigation services. With 38 years of professional experience most of which was at executive management level. He has held various portfolios within the Namibia Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for three years and three months and the ATNS Company Limited in South Africa for twenty years from1994 to 2016. He possesses extensive knowledge and understanding of the aviation regulatory environment and air navigation service provision on international, Namibian and South African levels.
Mr. Sibusiso Nkabinde has been the Board Chairperson of JSK Consulting since August 2024. He brings over 20 years of leadership and operational expertise in the aviation sector with a focus on Air Traffic Management, Safety Management Systems and Environmental Oversight. As a founder and director of Av-innovate, he led projects in strategy development, risk management, and compliance with industry standards such as SACAA regulations and ICAOO.
He has held various roles, including SACAA Air Traffic Services Designated Examiner. Manager of Air Traffic Services, and National Head of Aeronautical Search and Rescue. From April 2016 to April 2023, he served as Manager of Air Traffic Services at OR Tambo International Airport (Prescribed Officer/Company Director) for ATNS. He has been with ATNS in various positions from 2002 to 2016.
His academic credentials include an MBA, an Advanced Certificate in Management Studies and the Executive Management Development Program.
ISSUED BY: National Department of Transport