SAPS Targeting "GA" ?
These are not my own words, but an article posted to me...and thought I would post it for general comment /pilot information.
Does the SAPS not have anything better to do than harass General Aviation pilots? In the last week, I have heard of two separate incidents where the SAP arrived at an airfield and demanded from pilots all the documents that should be carried on their aircraft.
Following are examples of documentsthat should be carried.
Airworthiness certificate, mass and balance, release certificate, radio licence and radio licence receipt, pilot's licence, and if you are stopped just before takeoff or after landing, the actual mass and balance calculations for that specific flight.
At one airfield last week, eight policemen arrived in three separate vehicles from SAPS head office in Pretoria. They only found two pilots at the field and after questioning these pilots, the policemen said that theywould return on Saturday to check all the rest of the aircraft at the field.
In another incident last week, it was reported that a pilot had his licence suspended when the police reported him to the CAA for not complying with the regulations. The pilot did not have all the documents on hand, and the Civil Aviation Authority suspended his licence. The pilot will be forced to re-write the air-law exam before his licence will be reinstated.
What nonsense. The questions that have to be asked are:-
1. Why is the SAPS chasing around the country on this sort of paper trail,when people are being murdered, raped, hijacked, robbed and more?
2. Why is general aviation being targeted? I can understand if the SAPS was to check commercial airlines in the interest of air-safety for tourists and domestic passengers, but what is the motive behind checking generalaviation?
3. Why do we pay the CAA levies, including R3/litre levy in aviation fuel?Surely the checking of documentation is "its" responsibility and if so, why has it delegated this role to the police?
4. What training have these people had to investigate these issues? One policeman asked the pilot of a Piper Cub, 'what kind of aeroplane is this?'Then he asked 'why does this plane have a ZS registration, and that one overthere have a ZU registration?' Would these policemen even know what a weight and balance calculation looks like?
5. The SAPS has often used the excuse that it does not have enough vehicles to get to crime scenes on time or conduct patrols. Even if it does have vehicles, it does not have sufficient petrol to drive around in them. Why then does the SAPS send three vehicles all the way from Pretoria to investigate aircraft at airfields more than 50 km away?
Editor's comments This is indeed a sad state of affairs. It seems that although the SA Police Services does not have the resources to contain violent crime in South Africa, it does have the time to interfere in the highly structured aviation industry. In addition, these police officers do not appear to have any idea of what aviation is all about in South Africa. I would like to believe that by far the vast majority of aviation enthusiasts are law abiding citizens who add considerably to the tax coffers of our country.