It’s high time those responsible for aviation start performing in a professional manner

If it was only another Fikile Mbalula faux pas, we might have been able to pass by his false statement that an aircraft of the Angolan government-run airline, TAAG, had flown illegally into South Africa.

The statement by Mbalula could not have been more wrong, as the peeved airline pointed out when we were the first to ask them about the incident.

That was something that our own aviation authorities – which fall under Mbalula – apparently could not do. They could also not determine – despite the fact that the aircraft was parked at Cape Town International Airport – what type of plane it was, nor the company to which it actually belonged.

ALSO READ: Angolan embassy apologises after TAAG plane lands in CT without permit

A spokesperson asked us for that information – and we provided it.

What is worrying is that this incompetent mess relates to aviation, a sector where accuracy and double-checking are of cardinal importance. If you do not adhere to those, people die.

If our aviation authorities cannot find information in front of their noses, how safe are the skies over our country, not only in terms of navigation but also in terms of aircraft airworthiness and aircrew training? It is high time those responsible for aviation start performing in a professional manner.