ATNS mismanagement mirrors Joburg’s traffic chaos

Imagine any Sandton robot on a typical day.

But it’s not JMPD managing traffic… it’s the same guys who once washed your windscreen with empty soft drink bottles, now directing stopstart chaos instead of traffic lights.

A fender-bender is just an insurance claim, but a plane crash risks hundreds of lives and millions of rands in damages.

Yet South Africa’s airspace management mirrors Joburg’s broken intersections: equipment is ageing, broken, or stolen and there’s never enough staff.

ALSO READ: ATNS working to resolve flight procedure issues amid delays, says Creecy

Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) blames personnel shortages and people leaving the country for a higher wage, yet a former CEO allegedly used company resources for herself and handed out jobs and promotions to friends.

It took repeated airport closures last year because of ill-maintained procedures and intense media scrutiny to prompt Transport Minister Barbara Creecy into action, after the building crisis was ignored by her predecessors.

This included suspending the CEO. If this is just the beginning – and there is much to be done – it may get ATNS back on track and disrupt the dangerous alignment of systemic failures which lead to disaster.

Yet, the question about this key state-run institution remains unanswered: why wait until near collapse before trying to fix it?

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