Gunship
28th Oct 2005, 12:21
By Wilf Mbanga
London - Presidents Robert Mugabe and Thabo Mbeki have made a secret (not anymore) :E pact to train black pilots for South Africa while easing whites out of the SA Air Force (SAAF).
An informed source with the Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ), speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed this week that 14 experienced instructors, led by Group Captain Chasakara, would leave shortly for South Africa. It is understood that they have been seconded to the SAAF to undertake a comprehensive two-year training programme aimed at beefing up the numbers of black pilots.
"Mbeki is unhappy with the slow pace of integration of blacks into the SAAF," said the source. "He feels he is being resisted by the whites, who still have a stranglehold over the air force down south." By putting the highly experienced senior officers of the AFZ at Mbeki’s disposal to further black empowerment in the SA military, Mugabe has undoubtedly secured further influence with his already friendly southern neighbour. In addition, he is earning his bankrupt country hard currency for their services, according to the source.
He said the group of instructors would be accompanied by 30 experienced aircraft engineers, led by Squadron Leader Mudenge, severely depleting the ranks of the AFZ’s technical staff. However, due to the economic collapse of the past decade and the international arms embargo, most air force technicians and pilots in Zimbabwe have done nothing but twiddle their thumbs for some time now. In addition, Zimbabwe lost several aircraft in the DRC campaign and about two dozen aircraft are currently grounded for lack of spares. "There’s nothing for them to do here, so they might as well go down south," said the source. "At least that way the pilots will be able to keep up their flying hours and the technicians will get some experience in servicing various different types of aircraft." The SAAF recently joined the AFZ in staging an air show in Harare, where the motley collection of aircraft, many of them still from the Rhodesian days 25 years ago, were put through their faltering paces in the skies over Harare. Fancy jets were brought in by the South Africans to beef up the display.
Zimbabwean pilots still use Second World War-era Dakotas as the backbone of their transport fleet, as well as the Cassa C212 and Islander workhorses. Nowhere does east meet west more noticeably than in the force’s fleet of helicopters, which includes French Alouettes, Italian Agustas, American Bells, Russian Hind gunships, British Lynxes and Cougars. The air force recently acquired a dozen Chinese-made K8 jet trainers to replace the British Aerospace Hawk trainers – grounded because of lack of spares, as a result of the EU arms embargo. The jets augmented the squadrons of Chengdu F7 and Guizhou FT7 jet fighters – also from China. Aged but sturdy Hawker Hunter jet bombers from the Rhodesian era are still operational, as are Cessnas and SF260 trainers used for training beginner pilots. The pact is seen by observers as further evidence of the two leaders’ close relationship, which even the stalled US$1 billion loan negotiations does not seem to have affected much.
From The Zimbabwean, 28 October 2005
London - Presidents Robert Mugabe and Thabo Mbeki have made a secret (not anymore) :E pact to train black pilots for South Africa while easing whites out of the SA Air Force (SAAF).
An informed source with the Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ), speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed this week that 14 experienced instructors, led by Group Captain Chasakara, would leave shortly for South Africa. It is understood that they have been seconded to the SAAF to undertake a comprehensive two-year training programme aimed at beefing up the numbers of black pilots.
"Mbeki is unhappy with the slow pace of integration of blacks into the SAAF," said the source. "He feels he is being resisted by the whites, who still have a stranglehold over the air force down south." By putting the highly experienced senior officers of the AFZ at Mbeki’s disposal to further black empowerment in the SA military, Mugabe has undoubtedly secured further influence with his already friendly southern neighbour. In addition, he is earning his bankrupt country hard currency for their services, according to the source.
He said the group of instructors would be accompanied by 30 experienced aircraft engineers, led by Squadron Leader Mudenge, severely depleting the ranks of the AFZ’s technical staff. However, due to the economic collapse of the past decade and the international arms embargo, most air force technicians and pilots in Zimbabwe have done nothing but twiddle their thumbs for some time now. In addition, Zimbabwe lost several aircraft in the DRC campaign and about two dozen aircraft are currently grounded for lack of spares. "There’s nothing for them to do here, so they might as well go down south," said the source. "At least that way the pilots will be able to keep up their flying hours and the technicians will get some experience in servicing various different types of aircraft." The SAAF recently joined the AFZ in staging an air show in Harare, where the motley collection of aircraft, many of them still from the Rhodesian days 25 years ago, were put through their faltering paces in the skies over Harare. Fancy jets were brought in by the South Africans to beef up the display.
Zimbabwean pilots still use Second World War-era Dakotas as the backbone of their transport fleet, as well as the Cassa C212 and Islander workhorses. Nowhere does east meet west more noticeably than in the force’s fleet of helicopters, which includes French Alouettes, Italian Agustas, American Bells, Russian Hind gunships, British Lynxes and Cougars. The air force recently acquired a dozen Chinese-made K8 jet trainers to replace the British Aerospace Hawk trainers – grounded because of lack of spares, as a result of the EU arms embargo. The jets augmented the squadrons of Chengdu F7 and Guizhou FT7 jet fighters – also from China. Aged but sturdy Hawker Hunter jet bombers from the Rhodesian era are still operational, as are Cessnas and SF260 trainers used for training beginner pilots. The pact is seen by observers as further evidence of the two leaders’ close relationship, which even the stalled US$1 billion loan negotiations does not seem to have affected much.
From The Zimbabwean, 28 October 2005