They have been trying this for years. Most of the former underprivileged guys and gals get sponsored to train at NATA however the average candidate has proven quite some difficulty in passing the CPL theory exams or attaining a high enough commercial flying proficiency to pass the check rides - quite a waste of public and private funds. The ones that did, all got sucked by Air Namibia pretty quick. I can not imagine they will solve this issue by forcing the operators to take incapable locals - because they won't (please note that I am not saying that each and every one of them falls into that definition, as there are some very capable individuals! but they remain to be few.)
As long as it is economically quite, there will be nothing the operators can't handle with the resources they still have - at least that is what it sounds like.
All in all it is an old subject, they just try and solve the so called expat problem slightly differently as time goes by. The way the patronizing officials treated us taxpaying expatriates finally made me decide to leave three years ago, the attitude just sucked my patience dry. Something you can either accept and deal with or leave.
Last edited by Propellerpilot; 23rd Mar 2011 at 18:57.