South African Airways takes to the Stars!

On Monday, 10 April, our national airline, South African Airways (SAA), was formally admitted as a member of the Star Alliance, the largest of the existing three international airline associations. We were privileged to host in our country almost all the CEOs of the important Member Airlines of the Star Alliance, who came to participate in the processes that culminated in the admission of SAA into the Alliance.

The Star Alliance now has 18 member airlines. Between them these carriers account for 15,500 flights daily, carrying 25% of the global passenger air traffic. They serve 842 airport destinations in 152 countries. They manage more than 660 lounges at the airports they serve. These are available to travelers who use the Member Airlines of the Alliance.

Further to indicate the significance of the Alliance in terms of air travel, we must immediately list its members, which are well known to all regular international travellers. Presented in alphabetical order, and with the latest available figures about the numbers of people they carry annually, these are;

• Air Canada - 29 million passengers;
• Air New Zealand - 11 million passengers;
• ANA (Japan) - 48 million passengers;
• Asiana Airlines (South Korea) - about 12 million passengers;
• Austrian - about 9.5 million passengers;
• bmi (British) - about 9.5 million passengers;
• LOT (Poland) - 3.7 million passengers;
• Lufthansa (German) - 51.3 million passengers;
• SAA - over 7 million passengers;
• SAS (Scandinavian) - about 24 million passengers;
• Singapore Airlines - 15.3 million passengers;
• Spanair (Spain) - about 9 million passengers;
• Swiss - 9.19 million passengers;
• TAP (Portugal) - 6.5 million passengers;
• Thai (Thailand) - 17 million passengers;
• United (USA) - 71 million passengers;
• US Airways - about 53 million passengers; and,
• Varig (Brazil) - about 13 million passengers.

Star Alliance also has three European Regional Members, these being: Adria (Slovenia), which carried 865,000 passengers; Blue1 (Finland), which carried 1.1 million passengers; and, Croatia Airlines, which carried 1.5 million passengers.

The preceding information tells the story that Star Alliance encompasses important airlines based in most areas of our common globe - the Far East, Australasia, South East Asia, Eastern and Central Europe, Western Europe, Africa, Latin America, and North America.

Of particular importance in our context is the fact that SAA is the first and only African airline to be admitted not only into the Star Alliance, but also into any of the existing international associations. To qualify for membership, our national airline had to satisfy 53 quality control standards that apply to all members of the Alliance.

Among others, these benchmarks serve to ensure airline compliance with various high and strict safety, maintenance, and passenger service standards, and other requirements set by the international regulatory organisations, IATA and ICAO. It is a matter of immense national pride that SAA is today a member of the Star Alliance because, with regard to all these benchmarks, it was able to secure the unqualified approval of its eminent peers, the airlines that invited our national airline to join the Alliance.

As SAA completed the process of entering the Star Alliance, on 10 April, the CEO of the Alliance, Jaan Albrecht, said: "On behalf of all member carrier CEOs gathered here today, it is with great pleasure that we welcome SAA into our family. With SAA we do not only gain a further member, but we more importantly provide improved access to an entire (African) continent to our customers."

For his part, the CEO of SAA, Khaya Ngqula said: "We welcome this new course for our airline that brings tremendous advantages to our passengers. Membership of this alliance places us amongst the top airlines in the world. We are an award winning airline, and vibrantly African. Our footprint on the continent reflects our African spirit, qualities that we wish to introduce to the rest of the world. Proudly South African, our membership will allow us to show off our African culture to the rest of the world."

The sentiment freely expressed by all the CEOs of the Star Alliance in our presence was that SAA had brought the Alliance to Africa, and that the Alliance would take Africa to the world. Among others, the latter sentiment would find expression in programmes that the Alliance would embark upon to promote our country and continent as a highly attractive tourist destination.

The entry of the Star Alliance into Africa speaks to a larger challenge that faces us as Africans. This is the challenge to stand up to any negative tendency in the globalisation process, which results in the further marginalisation of our continent and people.

SAA secured membership of the prestigious Star Alliance without asking for any special favours. It consciously took the position that it would seek to attain membership of the Alliance as an African airline that would meet exactly the same requirements prescribed for all the other members of the Alliance, regardless of their geographic base and origin. It refused that such membership should derogate from its true essence as an African airline. Happily, it is today both an African airline and an esteemed member of the global and prestigious Star Alliance.

The process of globalisation, a defining feature of contemporary human society, necessarily dictates that the direct interaction among the peoples of the world will increase. This will happen not only through the agency of modern information and communication technologies (ICTs), the global mass media and technological convergence.

It will also happen, as both cause and effect with regard to globalisation, through the accelerated global cross-border and trans-national movement of people and goods. Inevitably, air travel, and, in this context, the Star Alliance, is bound to and will necessarily play an ever increasing role in terms of the physical integration of the global human family.

One of the tasks we face as Africans is to resist and fight against all objective and subjective impulses that would consign our continent and ourselves to the periphery of this integrative process. In this regard, we must firmly establish our continent as a normal and safe destination for all air travellers, with genuinely African airlines playing the central role in terms of moving passengers and goods within, into and out of Africa.

Two hundred and thirty years ago, the famous Scottish political economist, Adam Smith, wrote about the Cape of Good Hope and the then process of globalisation. In his well known treatise, The Wealth of Nations, he said:

"The general advantages which Europe, considered as one great country, has derived from the discovery and colonisation of America, consist, first, in the increase of its enjoyments; and, secondly, in the augmentation of its industry.

"The surplus produce of America, imported into Europe, furnishes the inhabitants of this great continent with a variety of commodities which they could not otherwise have possessed...

"The discovery of America, and that of a passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, are the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind... By uniting, in some measure, the most distant parts of the world, by enabling them to relieve one another's wants, to increase one another's enjoyments, and to encourage one another's industry, their general tendency would seem to be beneficial...

"In consequence of those discoveries, the commercial towns of Europe...have now become the manufacturers for the numerous and thriving cultivators of America, and the carriers, and in some respects the manufacturers too, for almost all the different nations of Asia, Africa, and America. Two new worlds have been opened to their industry, each of them much greater and more extensive than the old one, and the market of one of them growing still greater and greater every day."

Adam Smith wrote of an observable process almost two-and-a-half centuries ago, which was "uniting, in some measure, the most distant parts of the world...", and which he characterised as "the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind".

During this period, shipping was the form of transport used to "unite the most distant parts of the world". It still plays a critically important part in the movement of goods in what has become much more of one global market than was the case during the days of Adam Smith.

Technological advance has since added air travel as another important form of transport helping to unite the most distant parts of the world. As it works to ensure its equitable integration within the world community, Africa has no choice but to focus on strengthening its participation in the air transport industry.

Speaking in November 2005, Christian Folly-Kossi, Secretary General of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), said that the African airlines are being sidelined by their big global competitors. He said: "African carriers are weak and pose very little competitive threat to the mega-carriers". He said that at the same time, "consolidating air transport is the only way to pave the way for trade". He called for the establishment of a NEPAD fund to finance the development of the African airlines, so that Africa can "repossess its market share in aviation in its own skies".

In his Address at the 37th Annual General Assembly of AFRAA at Sun City, South Africa on 14 November 2005, the Director General and CEO of IATA, Giovanni Bisignani, pointed to some of the challenges facing the African airline industry. Among other things he said that he wanted to "highlight two main areas of concern for Africa: safety and efficiency..."

"Africa has made some progress on safety. Compared to a 10 year average of 10.84 hull losses per million sectors, in 2004 African carriers achieved a rate of 5.2. This is progress, but it is still 6.6 times worse than the global average. And let's remember that 25% of the accidents in 2004 occurred in Africa - a region that accounts for only 4.5% of global traffic. We must do better in Africa...

"In 2003 IATA's AGM committed to the IATA Operational Safety Audit - IOSA. IOSA is the first global standard for airline operational safety management... Our 2003 AGM resolved that all members would seek IOSA registration by January 2006... But so far, only three African airlines -SAA, Egyptair and Kenya Airways - have completed the audit. I am worried and disappointed...

"And I have come here to ask for the one key ingredient that only you can provide - your personal commitment. I have a strong commitment from Christian and his AFRAA team to work together. SAA and Kenya Airways are sharing their expertise. IATA is doing the maximum to make sure no carrier is left behind. Now I need you - the leaders of aviation in Africa - to start moving fast. Sitting on the sidelines is not an option. I personally fought to have the original date of 2005 extended to 2007. We gained two precious years but we are in the final stage. There will be no extension. 100% (e-ticketing - ET) will be a reality in 775 days...

"My message to you is to: remind your governments to pay more attention to safety and effective infrastructure. Use IATA's resources to drive efficiency gains. Move fast to meet the 2007 ET deadline. Use IOSA to drive improvements in safety. The goal is to build a successful African air transport industry that is globally integrated, efficient, and that delivers widespread benefits throughout the economy."

The accession of SAA into membership of the Star Alliance shows that the African air transport industry can achieve this goal. We trust that our airlines, members of AFRAA, will continue to assist one another within the context of the partnership that informs the NEPAD initiative. Clearly, our governments must also play their role to address the issues of safety and effective infrastructure so that the African airlines do indeed repossess their market share in aviation in the African skies.

I wish all our readers Happy and Peaceful Easter holidays!

Skills and development

Time to pursue a South African 'brain gain'

There are currently wide-ranging discussions in the country about how to increase the numbers of skilled professionals, both in the public and private sectors. In the public service, the lack of suitable skills has led to serious service delivery weaknesses, lack of sound financial administration and management, under-spending and savings, including on capital projects. Everybody seems therefore to agree that everything must be done to obtain these skills which are obviously scarce and yet critical if we are to pursue the objective to achieve sustained levels of economic growth and development. This is precisely because developing skills is not an overnight process; it takes an enormous effort in terms of time and resources invested.

Every graduate needs a mentor and a real-work opportunity to enhance their skills, knowledge and experience. Modern economies demand at least that much. So, even while South Africa may have plenty of unemployed graduates, they, taken together, are insufficient to help the country confront the challenge of having to spend multi-billion rands on service delivery and other capital projects.

Globally, including in developed countries, the issue of skills has become a major topic, fuelling massive and aggressive programmes to recruit skilled foreign nationals, especially from developing countries, in a manner that has proven itself clearly detrimental to their development needs.

In an article, "Africa: Killing us softly" (New African, November 2005, No. 445), Rotimi Sankore writes: "Africa is currently haemorrhaging its best brains at an alarming rate. The 'brain drain', a phrase many Africans have become familiar with and which started as a trickle, has now become a flood that threatens to cause the intellectual desertification of the continent. If a key factor for anticipating the future development and productivity of any modern society is the number of intellectuals, thinkers, visionaries, professionals and skilled workers it produces, then Africa had better beware. The problem is not that the continent cannot produce highly-trained and skilled human resources, the problem is that today they are being taken away faster than Africa can replenish them." The fact is that it is not just that these highly-trained and skilled people are leaving out of their own volition; they are being consciously recruited, including through scholarships.

It is estimated in Sankore's report that approximately 31,295 skilled Africans were wooed over by the United States alone in 2005, and this is besides thousands more that were recruited by France, Britain, Australia, Canada, Germany and other Western countries. In terms of the World Migration Report (2005), the "number of Africans living outside their country of origin has more than doubled in a generation..." Furthermore, the report says, the brain drain phenomenon in Africa has intensified and is bound to continue to rise as a result, among other things, of the fact that developed countries are adapting their immigration policies to attract highly skilled labour to compensate for local skills shortages in certain sectors. The report says: "Aggressive and targeted international recruitment initiatives can be seen in several African states, for instance in Ghana and South Africa. As a result, a considerable part of the investment in training and education in Africa can never be recovered."

Accordingly, while the "push" factors such as lack of career opportunities, democracy and development, and including wars and violence, still play a major role in influencing the professionals' decision to emigrate, the "pull" factors are themselves becoming stronger and more complex for developing countries to cope with. For example, the International Organisation on Migration estimates that since 2000, Africa has been losing 20,000 professionals annually, and another UN report estimates that there are 21,000 Nigerian doctors practicing in the US alone (Nandi Herbert, "Africa: The Lost Generation", New African, Nov. 2005, No. 445).

The recruitment schemes are getting even more aggressive, targeting the most talented MBA and doctoral students in certain specialised fields studying within the European Union's best universities. In certain instances, they recruit entire families and root them out of the continent, seeking not only the brains and labour power of the parents, but those of the children as well. The shortage of science and engineering skills in Europe could hamper future growth and undermine endeavours to improve productivity and competitiveness and hence the urgency for conscious, aggressive and targeted recruitment.

What Africa loses through this process is invaluable and can never be recovered. It has a direct and heavy bearing on the future development prospects of the continent and will, unless it is managed better and differently, perpetuate the socio-economic disparities between the developed and developing countries precisely because the latter cannot match the salaries, adequately compensated livelihoods, better working conditions and exposure and opportunities that the former offer individuals.

However, it has also emerged that many expatriates actually emigrate only temporarily, to make some money, develop experience and gain exposure so that they may after some period return to their mother countries better skilled, exposed and experienced. Increasingly, developing countries such as India, China and Philippines are engaging in pro-active strategies to attract their émigrés back. They have transformed themselves from being victims of emigration to being pro-active players that manage that process, so that even while being abroad, these governments maintain organised contact with their émigrés, to benefit from their skills, knowledge, networks and resources. In many developing countries, the remittances sent by émigrés account for more than the official development assistance received by these countries, and in others they are a huge chunk of the gross domestic product (GDP).

The recent decisions taken by the South African government seek to achieve exactly this goal to transform our country into one of the major beneficiaries of the complex system of skilled labour migration. The fact is that we cannot stop or prohibit migration and, in particular, the emigration of skilled South Africans. The challenge for us is to manage the process such that we are able to develop our own skills, recruit others from abroad and re-recruit émigré South Africans working abroad. The open-mindedness of the Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) and the recruitment of 90 people about whom the President spoke in his State of the Nation Address in Parliament must be seen in this light. South Africa needs these skills and has the capacity to return them back home. Our comparative advantage as a country is that in terms of living and working standards for professionals ­- that is, in political, social, cultural and economic terms - South Africa is competitive.

It is in this light that South Africa should also not hesitate to recruit skilled professionals from everywhere, including on our continent. Of course, this latter point may be viewed as controversial by some, who may argue that recruiting skilled professionals may achieve similar results that haemorrhage Africa to the benefit of South Africa. Yet, the reality is that even if South Africa adopted a policy position that we would not recruit skilled professionals from Africa, the developed world will continue to recruit them and root them out of Africa, to be lost forever. Another reality is that, in any way, there are many African professionals and academics working in South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Mozambique and elsewhere. The difference is that recruiting skilled professionals into South Africa will have serious economic and political benefits for both South Africa and the respective countries from which they come if the process is better managed through coordinated mechanisms such as bilateral and multilateral agreements. It would create a really vibrant Africa and pose a visible challenge to such reactionary practices as xenophobia.

The development demands of our country, as well as global experience, not only dictate that we act in this way, but indicate too that it is wise to act in this way.

** Malusi Gigaba is a member of the ANC National Executive Committee.

HIV and AIDS

Prevention is central to a comprehensive AIDS response

This week the member states of the Africa Region of the World Health Organisation (WHO) launched the Year of Accelerated HIV Prevention. African Ministers of Health declared this initiative last year in Maputo, Mozambique. There were specific reasons why the Health Ministers from the region most affected by HIV and AIDS had to take this important decision.

Over the past years, there has been a great deal of engagement over the issues relating only to access to AIDS treatment. South Africa made efforts to ensure that treatment is understood in its broader sense to include treatment of opportunistic infections and sexually transmitted infections. Even today, the country is still struggling to get appropriate recognition of African traditional medicines and good nutrition as effective interventions in delaying progression from HIV infection to development of AIDS-defining conditions.

Some groups have lobbied extensively for the provision of antiretroviral drugs as the main intervention in dealing with HIV and AIDS. These campaigns were supported by a number of international initiatives, the last being the WHO's Three by Five initiative which aimed to provide antiretroviral treatment to three million people by the year 2005.

All these efforts were being made despite the challenges in the capacity of health systems in Africa to safely administer and monitor this type of therapy. There were also serious challenges in terms of affordability of the drugs and sustainability of these initiatives in our context.

The approach of the South African government was to insist on creating favourable conditions for the introduction of this intervention. Government focused its efforts on reducing the prices of medicines, building the capacity of our health system and mobilising sufficient resources within our own fiscus to ensure sustainability of such an intervention. In due course, government indeed added antiretroviral therapy as one of the elements of the country's comprehensive response to HIV and AIDS in the country.

The unfortunate consequence of this engagement on treatment locally and internationally has been the downgrading of prevention as a central element in responding to this health condition, for which there is still no known cure. Prevention became the forgotten child of the HIV and AIDS response.

The South African government has always emphasised the need for a comprehensive approach to HIV and AIDS. In the absence of a cure, government emphasised that prevention remains the mainstay of our response.

It is encouraging that there is now a better understanding of the critical role of prevention and the need for a global focus on this particular intervention. Southern African Development Community (SADC) member-states have committed themselves to contribute to a regional fund for HIV and AIDS, which will assist in strengthening prevention interventions in the region.

The purpose of the 'Year for Accelerated HIV Prevention' is to reflect on our prevention efforts and establish their effectiveness.

The drivers of the spread of HIV infection in the region have to be identified and concerted efforts made to address them. These factors include poverty, underdevelopment and gender inequalities that make women more vulnerable to HIV infection and the impact of AIDS. The challenges of inappropriate human settlement and lack of access to basic services such as water and sanitation, health and education increase the vulnerability of our communities to diseases.

The prevention campaign also provides an opportunity to build the moral fibre of our society and intensify the healthy lifestyle programme as the main intervention in promoting good health among our people. The healthy lifestyle programme includes:

• promotion of regular physical activity and good nutrition,
• tobacco control,
• reducing the levels of alcohol and substance abuse,
• promoting safe sexual behaviour.

Government will be increasing support for interventions aimed at promoting abstinence and being faithful. Building on the massive condom distribution programme which is averaging at more than 300 million a year, prevention messages will focus particularly on the correct and consistent use of condoms, which government make available free of charge.

The Department of Health will be up-scaling its communication and social mobilisation campaign. The budget for the campaign over a two-year period has been increased from R160 million to R200 million. The department is currently finalising the specification for the new communication tender and this tender will be advertised and awarded accordingly.

Communication programmes on HIV need to be transformed from being behavioural change driven to supporting real interventions on the ground. They need to make a difference in the lives of people, including those living with HIV and AIDS. The challenge for communication programmes is to move beyond simple messaging and provide effective links to service delivery.

The Department of Health has significantly increased coverage for the voluntary counselling and testing and prevention of mother-to-child transmission programmes. While continuing to expand the coverage, the department will also make efforts to better market these programmes with the aim of improving uptake.

There are many opportunities for the world to reflect on how to accelerate HIV prevention during the course of this year. In Abuja next month, African Heads of State will gather to review the progress made in meeting the goals set five years ago at the Abuja Summit of Heads of State on HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.

During this summit African governments will reflect on national and regional discussions that have been undertaken on how to make universal access to HIV and AIDS prevention, care and treatment a reality.

During these discussions, South Africa made significant efforts to broaden the definition of universal access to encompass prevention, care and treatment as critical elements of a response to HIV and AIDS. It is encouraging that this comprehensive approach, which has been championed by the government for many years is beginning to gain broader global support.

There is no doubt that much progress has been made in addressing the challenge of HIV and AIDS in the country. There are indeed challenges which we have all acknowledged and are seeking the best ways to address them as a country. When a South African delegation makes a presentation to the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV and AIDS at the end of May, we need to share our best practices with the world and learn from the experiences of fellow UN member states.

We need to ensure appropriate projection of the work done by many South Africans and their government in curbing the spread of HIV infection and reducing the impact of AIDS in our country.

Let us all support 'The Year of Accelerated HIV Prevention' to ensure that prevention interventions re-assume their rightful position as the mainstay of the global response to HIV and AIDS.

** Manto Tshabalala-Msimang is a member of the ANC National Executive Committee and Minister of Health.

Return to Index