Can this be true? Indeed it is. Even Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula confirmed it in parliament during question time.
Lieutenant N S K Bulwana in early January this year visited a friend at the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in Gabarone in a Defence Force Cessna 172 (what are we planning to defend with a Cessna??) without submitting a flight plan, and without gaining permission to enter a neighbouring country’s airspace.
The flight was made possible by his friend, an air traffic controller at Gaborone’s airport. The pilot also apparently stole a fuel card from the Air Force’s VIP 21 Squadron. Bulwana was grounded in February pending an investigation and charged the following month.
The pilot would have gotten away with the flight if his colleagues had not reported him to the authorities. He apparently boasted about his feat, saying he was untouchable because he knew the right people.
“Clearly the pilot concerned should be expelled from the air force. This incident is also clear evidence that there is a problem with discipline in the defence force because it should simply never have happened,” says Freedom Front Plus MP Pieter Groenewald. Democratic Alliance ‘shadow defence minister’ David Maynier said: “There is clearly something very wrong at the South African Air Force’s (VIP squadron). How on earth is it possible for an air force pilot to ‘borrow’ an aircraft to visit a friend in Botswana after stealing a petrol card?”
