Inkwazi
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Cape Town
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Inkwazi
Worth mentioning?
aa what the hell, why not:
Erika Gibson
Pretoria - An "urgent" flight with President Thabo Mbeki's brand new jet, Inkwazi, with only two passengers onboard to Kinshasa cost the taxpayer about R270 000.
To add insult to injury, the jet returned empty and the two special envoys returned to the country with South African Airways.
Sam Kwanzaa, spokesperson for the defence ministry, confirmed this week that Mojanku Gumbi, Mbeki's legal advisor, and Minister of Local Government Sydney Mufamadi, travelled to Kinshasa on the Inkwazi to attend an official ceremony of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's transitional government.
"They were special envoys who attended the function on President Mbeki's orders," Mkhwanazi said.
He said there were no other planes available to transport the two officials, not even a chartered one.
Experts said a chartered plane would have cost about a third of the Inkwazi flight.
It costs about R41 250 an hour to operate the Inkwazi and a return flight to Kinshasa lasts about 6 hours. The landing fee in Kinshasa costs about R22 500.
Mkhwanazi said VIP flights are planned as cost-effectively as possible. However, unforeseen circumstances sometimes forced exceptions to this rule.
Complements of - www.saairforce.co.za
aa what the hell, why not:
Erika Gibson
Pretoria - An "urgent" flight with President Thabo Mbeki's brand new jet, Inkwazi, with only two passengers onboard to Kinshasa cost the taxpayer about R270 000.
To add insult to injury, the jet returned empty and the two special envoys returned to the country with South African Airways.
Sam Kwanzaa, spokesperson for the defence ministry, confirmed this week that Mojanku Gumbi, Mbeki's legal advisor, and Minister of Local Government Sydney Mufamadi, travelled to Kinshasa on the Inkwazi to attend an official ceremony of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's transitional government.
"They were special envoys who attended the function on President Mbeki's orders," Mkhwanazi said.
He said there were no other planes available to transport the two officials, not even a chartered one.
Experts said a chartered plane would have cost about a third of the Inkwazi flight.
It costs about R41 250 an hour to operate the Inkwazi and a return flight to Kinshasa lasts about 6 hours. The landing fee in Kinshasa costs about R22 500.
Mkhwanazi said VIP flights are planned as cost-effectively as possible. However, unforeseen circumstances sometimes forced exceptions to this rule.
Complements of - www.saairforce.co.za
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: England, SA
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Oh no, I feel a diatribe coming on...
Some figures (ballpark)
1 month HIV treatment = ~R900
1 hour Inkwazi = R 41000
Therefore 1 hour Inkwazi = ~45 months HIV treatment.
It gets better. Cost of Nevaripine (to decrease Mother -to-child transmission of HIV) = $12 per course. = R110 +/-
therefore 1 hour on Inkwazi = 372 courses of Nevaripine. = 372 potential babies without HIV/AIDS.
Now, I agree that the president should have a jet. It looks bad if the pres arrives looking like an economy class SLF victim. This does not mean that any mam
ara can ride in the presidential jet. How do these guys sleep at night.
Sorry, has very little to do with aviation, but it is only my background way of thinking.
I confess that I don't know any of the unforseen factors mentioned in the report. I am sure that they were very unforseen....
Puts hard hat on and ducks back into shelter, waits for shelling to begin.....
Some figures (ballpark)
1 month HIV treatment = ~R900
1 hour Inkwazi = R 41000
Therefore 1 hour Inkwazi = ~45 months HIV treatment.
It gets better. Cost of Nevaripine (to decrease Mother -to-child transmission of HIV) = $12 per course. = R110 +/-
therefore 1 hour on Inkwazi = 372 courses of Nevaripine. = 372 potential babies without HIV/AIDS.
Now, I agree that the president should have a jet. It looks bad if the pres arrives looking like an economy class SLF victim. This does not mean that any mam
ara can ride in the presidential jet. How do these guys sleep at night.Sorry, has very little to do with aviation, but it is only my background way of thinking.
I confess that I don't know any of the unforseen factors mentioned in the report. I am sure that they were very unforseen....
Puts hard hat on and ducks back into shelter, waits for shelling to begin.....
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Hong Kong
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Yes and?
Mike, surely you're not surprised that there was no shelling in response to your post? Apathy is even worse than ignorance that is supposedly bliss. One wonders about the unwarranted expenditure that we don't get to hear about?
Oh well, in the words of MAD magazine's Alfred E Neuman, "What me worry?" Uh oh, dammit that apathy is catchy stuff.......
Oh well, in the words of MAD magazine's Alfred E Neuman, "What me worry?" Uh oh, dammit that apathy is catchy stuff.......
