All very interesting stuff this and I must confess that I did speed read through a bit of it. But Birdlady misses a fundamental point of European training (JAA to you and me). The very real and indesputable fact is that no-one in SA (with the possible exception of 43 AS, and they run different course depending on the customer) offers anything close to the acedemics and training and post qualification courses that the best of the JAA guys in Europe do. That is why they can and do put 200 hrs pilots in a shiny new B737-400 or a A320 and the guys hack it. There is so much nonsense about hiring low houred guys in SA and that forces these cash rich idiots to pay for something that they themselves should be getting paid for.
Unless the training in SA matches that which has been conducted in the EU for many years then, yes, the newly minted CPL's will fall short of the flying skills and acedemics required to fly a large machine. And only the industry has itself to blame. If you want competant, knowledgable pilots you should take the lead of the JAA states. In the UK for example I understand that all potential trainees (remember most are paying themselves) are screened. Moreover the UK airlines are now demanding an average of 85% for all 14 exams with NO failures and a first time pass at the Multi/CIRT flight test which we know as the ATPL flight test here in SA. Frankly, just how many in SA reach this standard and have the broad knowledge base of a newly minted JAA pilot with 220 hrs. Not many, but go ahead and count them if you can.
So, what do you want people?
