NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO 172
DATE REPLY SUBMITTED: 19 FEBRUARY 2010
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: THURSDAY, 11 FEBRUARY 2010
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: NO 1 â 2010)
Mr W Rabotapi (DA) MP asked the Minister of Transport:
What was the basis for the salary increases of the Executive Management of
the Civil Aviation Authority while it recorded a deficit in the 2008-09
financial years?
NW182E
REPLY:
The Minister of Transport:
At the beginning of the 2008 - 2009 financial year, the South African
Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) had cash reserves of just under R100
million, which equates to approximately five months of operational
expenditure. The norm as benchmarked against Civil Aviation
Authorities in other countries is to have reserves of 30 - 45 days.
Following a request from industry to restrict charges and due to the
effect of the world wide recession on air travel, the SACAA budgeted
for a loss of R9,6 million for the year, which was approved by
National Treasury.
As was reported by the Chief Executive Officer, SACAA, at the meeting
of the Portfolio Committee on Transport (National Assembly) in
Parliament, which was held on Tuesday, 20 October 2009, the SACAA also
carried some R4 million of the cost for the Accident and Incident
Department during the year, because of under-recovery from the
Department of Transport.
Therefore, despite a revenue deficit of around R25 million, caused by
the reduction in the number of passengers travelling and reduced
aviation activity, the SACAA effectively managed to come in almost
exactly on budget. This was achieved by across the board cost
containment and delaying recruitment, but still managing to meet all
commitments by more effective use of inspectors and other staff.
All Executive Managers therefore did receive salary increases, but
these were performance based increases following robust performance
evaluations, and not across the board increases. It might be
pertinent to mention that the SACAA is a financially neutral
organisation and most of its revenue comes from the fuel levy,
passenger safety charges and user fees. No further subsidy is
received from Government. The SACAA is self-funded based on the User
Pays Principle. Only a once-off subsidy was received in the 2007 -
2008 financial year to cover the costs of meeting the audit
requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)
and the US Federal Aviation Administration.