Is Zuma's plane being downed by a lack of trained engineers and mechanics?

President Jacob Zuma should not be worried about his current jet‚ Inkwaze - it’s the lack of maintenance capabilities within the South African Air Force (SAAF) that should be giving him and his Cabinet sleepless nights‚ according to an online African defence and security news publication.

The last of the AMG/Denel support personnel have been laid off‚ resulting in serious implications for aircraft serviceability and safety - including that of the presidential Boeing Business Jet‚ Defence Web reports.

The Inkwaze was found to have leaking fuel pipes when it landed in Doha‚ Qatar‚ earlier this month. This followed another technical problem with the jet recently that left the president unable to leave Burundi.

Defence Web says a long-standing contract between the SAAF and Aero Manpower Group (AMG)‚ a Denel business unit‚ had provided specialist technical and support personnel who were responsible for the maintenance and airworthiness of a variety of SAAF aircraft‚ including those in the VIP squadron‚ at bases across the country.

However‚ the last group of support personnel were laid off at the end of April this year. Amongst those lost to the SAAF are all seven AMG technicians who were licenced to work on the president’s plane.

Defence Web said the SAAF had decided in 2011 to terminate the AMG contract because it had been declared irregular by the Auditor General.

Trade union Solidarity previously warned that at least 75% of the 523 Denel employees were in the scarce and critical skills band‚ “without which efficient functioning of the SAAF will not be possible”.

However‚ the SA Air Force told Defence Web that the SAAF had in a timely fashion identified the associated risks pertaining to the loss of the AMG/Denel personnel and had embarked on a skills transfer process.