New air force recruitment plan

Wilson Johwa

THE South African Air Force (SAAF) continues to lose personnel mainly to the private sector, with 13 pilots and 74 technical staff lost since January.

Chief of the SAAF Lt-Gen Carlo Gagiano said that from January, the air force would break away from the military's centralised recruitment and enlist suitable candidates from its bases. This marks a return to a strategy scrapped about nine years ago in favour of a common recruitment pool by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

Gagiano said decentralisation was expected to increase the pool of trainees to replace those leaving.

"We're still losing people at a tremendous rate, which is not sustainable," he said at a media briefing on Friday. Although the resignations did not match the losses in the peak period around 2000, they still represented an upward trend.

"By selecting ourselves - by selecting the right people, the best people - we're able to recruit more and train more and in the end they will fill the slots," said Gagiano.

Failure to give this urgent attention would result in a continuous weakening of the air force, he said.

"We're not recruiting enough to replace them, so we are slowly but surely slipping backwards."

In 2001 the air force lost 295 members in the crucial services. The following year 176 left, while another 97 resigned in 2003. Gagiano ascribed the resignations to salaries. "If you consider what a sergeant gets and what they can earn outside then there are no comparisons," he said.

The air force was looking to address the softer issues while anticipating an improved dispensation for members of the SANDF.

Gagiano said Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu was doing her best to work on a retention strategy. He described as "incorrect" the timing for union demands coming so soon after Sisulu's appointment. Soldiers clashed with police outside the Union Buildings almost three weeks ago demanding higher salaries.

Gagiano said in order to retain experience, resigning members were encouraged to "register with us so that they can give us some hours". The result was that the reserve force's flying hours more than doubled last year. He said the air force was also stepping up co-operation with private players in the aviation industry, who were also hard hit by the exodus of technicians.

Source: Business Day