Deputy President Jacob Zuma on Friday opened Swedish aircraft maker Saab’s Gripen production line for the South African Air Force. South Africa is buying 28 of the advanced Swedish aircraft to use for, among other tasks, peace support operations in Africa.
The deputy president arrived in Linkoping, in central Sweden, on a flight from the binational commission in Stockholm in driving rain. He was met on the ground by SAAF major Musa ”Midnight” Mbhokota, who had been aboard one of the two Gripen fighters escorting Zuma’s flight into Linkoping.
Mbhokota also explained the fighter’s cockpit to the deputy president, who afterwards joked that he was now qualified to fly the aircraft.
Addressing Swedish and South African journalists in a hangar to escape the weather, Zuma said no country he knew of did not spend any money on national defence.
”No country spends all their money on building hospitals. No country can be called strong if it cannot defend itself.”
He was being questioned by a Swedish journalist why South Africa needed expensive, high-performance jets and about allegations of corruption in the arms procurement process.
Zuma rejected the charges, saying three separate investigations had cleared the deal. He added that the allegations were being kept alive by people ”pursuing their own agendas”.
It was Zuma’s first visit to Linkoping and the Saab plant in the city.
After a simple ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the formal start of the production of the first Gripen for the SAAF, Zuma and his entourage departed on a tour of the massive high-security facility.
The manufacture of parts for the first South African aircraft already started in April. Final assembly would start in May next year and the aircraft would fly its first test flight on August 18, 2005.
Linkoping is the cradle of Swedish aviation. It is the town where Swedish pioneers first flew and it later became home to the Swedish Aircraft Company, better known by its acronym, Saab.
About 6 000 of its 14 000 employees live in work in Linkoping, a hi-tech industrial and university town of 140 000 residents.
The company, which had diversified into automobile manufacture, sold its car factories to the US General Motors some years ago.
Earlier in the day, Zuma had expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the third South African-Swedish Binational Commission meeting in Stockholm.
In a speech at the meeting’s closing, he said the importance of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development had been strongly emphasised throughout the two-day meeting.
Sweden had also reaffirmed its commitment to the renewal of the African continent, he said.
Outcomes included South Africa and Sweden agreeing to continue to co-operate in the international and multilateral arena.
”Our two countries share a belief in the peaceful resolution of conflicts. We also believe strongly in multilateralism and the need to locate the resolution of international disputes within the framework of multilateral institutions and processes,” Zuma said.
The decision of the BNC to increase co-operation in the field of conflict prevention and management was an indication of the two countries’ common position on the need to restore peace and stability.
”The South African-Swedish working group that will be established in order to exchange experiences and views on conflict resolution will be of great assistance in the achievement of our objectives,” Zuma said. ‒ Sapa