Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) has budgeted R6.5 billion over the next three years to fix the airports, which are deteriorating after years of chronic underinvestment.
Monday's catastrophic main fuel valve failure is a repeat of what happened on 28 December 2022, also during the peak travel season.
Last year, one of five baggage sorting systems at OR Tambo International Airport's domestic terminal failed on the Friday before the Christmas long weekend.
To solve the risk around the main fuel supply at OR Tambo, Acsa undertook to install a backup bypass line.
Two years later this hasn't been done. Monday's disaster could've - and should've - been avoided.
Top (bottom?) three
This is the same story across all our major airports, particularly OR Tambo International, Cape Town International and King Shaka International. The visible decay and underinvestment in maintenance capex is plain to see.
This story is from the December 12, 2024 edition of The Citizen.
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This story is from the December 12, 2024 edition of The Citizen.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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