Many African countries lose right to vote over unpaid dues
May 11, 2004
By Frank Nxumalo
Johannesburg - Many African states had lost their right to vote in the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) assembly on issues that might impact negatively on African aviation because they owed the African Civil Aviation Commission (Afcac) about R8 million in unpaid fees.
Afcac is a specialised agency of the African Union on civil aviation matters.
It meets every three years, usually on the eve of ICAO meetings and serves as a strategic planning forum for presenting a united African voice.
ICAO president Assad Kotaite lamented that while many African member states of Afcac had openly committed themselves to paying their dues, most had not done so.
"This is a matter of dignity with the states concerned. EU countries are not in arrears to their regional commissions and while there might be some Latin American countries in arrears, these are not as high as in Africa," Kotaite said.
On the positive side, Kotaite said the African aviation market, excluding business and chartered flights, was a growth market, which was expected to grow by 5 percent between 2004 and 2005 to 1.6 billion passengers a year at current projections.
Jeff Radebe, the minister of transport, said South Africa would support ICAO to ensure that Africa complied with international civil aviation regulations and planned to liberalise or open up its skies.
SAA is the continent's biggest and best-run civil aviation operation and has never faltered on its $55 000 (about R385 000) a year membership dues to Afcac since joining in 1995.
South Africa is also a member of the Civil Aviation Committee of the Southern African Development Community countries.
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