The beginning of getting him out ...
A LAUGH A MINUTE ... BANANA REPUBLIC ? 
Cape Town - South African Airways pilot Similo Sircharles Sali was released on R20 000 bail on Monday, following his arrest on July 24 at the Cape Town International Airport on a charge of drug trafficking.
Sali appeared in the Bellville Magistrate's Court before magistrate Theo Marx, who said the strength of the State's case had diminished significantly with the defence cross-examination of the investigating officer, Inspector Barend Geldenhuys.
The magistrate said that the State had opposed bail on two grounds - that there was, in fact, a strong case against Sali and that if convicted he faced a long term of imprisonment. This, the State had contended was a strong inducement for Sali to abscond.
The second reason was that Sali held a civil aviation certificate which enabled him to pilot any aircraft out of the country.
Marx said the fact that Sali was licensed to fly certain aircraft did not mean that he was able to fly any aircraft.
With Sali's passport and civil aviation certificate surrendered to the State, Sali could not legally fly and would have to steal an aircraft to get out of the country.
Marx said to do this would require a lot of luck. Sali would first have to identify a plane to steal safely. He would have to take off unidentified and he would then need to fly safely across the border without being detected.
This was unlikely with modern radar systems.
The magistrate said that even if Sali was able to do all of this he would need permission to land at an airport in a foreign country, and being able to this without permission was improbable.
He said, given the media attention which the case had generated, no self respecting neighbouring country was likely to give him permission to land.
If Sali absconded, he would also lose his family life and all that he had in the country.
Marx said the achievements of the asset forfeiture unit were well known, and if Sali managed to abscond he would lose everything he owned. It was unlikely that Sali would try to evade his trial, and it was clear that he could be safely granted bail.
The case was postponed to September 25 for further investigation.
And they think he "might" still be around by then ? Remember his previous criminal brother in the licence scam ran to the Talliban bru ...