Medical personnel including pilots, air-traffic controllers, cabin crew and flight engineers, are working without valid medical certificates after the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) withdrew the validity of examinations done after April this year following the expiry of the tenure of the Designated Aviation Medical Examiner (DAME) it has since suspended.
Industry insiders yesterday said the move was suspicious as SACAA sought to exonerate itself from action arising out of medical crises in the aviation space, including the mpox virus implications.
They questioned how SACAA could have allowed Dr Nonhlanhla Sishaba to continue rendering services and not appoint a replacement to now cancel the medical certificates.
In a statement yesterday, SACAA said it was finalising an investigation into alleged improper and fraudulent conduct by Dr Sishaba following a series of non-compliances and enforcement action taken last year.
SACAA said Dr Sishaba’s designation was under scrutiny due to ongoing investigations into alleged improper and fraudulent conduct including a 2023 enforcement action, which resulted in a penalty being issued to her for non-compliance.
It said her designation as DAME expired on 31 March 2024 and has not been renewed pending the ongoing investigations into her conduct.
“The SACAA online system flagged the fact that Dr Sishaba has continued to examine and issue medical certificates, in gross violation of civil aviation regulations,” it said.
“Under the regulations, all the certificates issued from 1 April 2024 are therefore invalid. All license holders who received medical certification from Dr Sishaba from this date must present themselves for re-examination and certification to a current and valid DAME within the next 15 working days.”
The move has raised concern amongst industry stakeholders on the risk of exposure of the personnel to communicable diseases including the mpox virus, which has intensified in the period cited as well as the risk of the bogus certificates being used against workers by hiring agencies.
Industry sources noted that the SACAA, as well as South African Airways (SAA), had been at the centre of irregularities for years on poor focus on crew health and fatigue management.
They said this was a loophole the airlines and entities have found in the Civil Aviation Act’s mandate that aviation personnel undergo regular prescribed medical assessments to ensure their health status was compatible with their roles and licenses.
“Many workers have been dismissed for the same issue of health certificates at the aviation entities. There is a blame game and protection of self at the airlines, especially SAA. They abuse the licence of the employee versus employment act against each other to not pay thus workers are disadvantaged. Airlines are abusers with this,” a source said.
According to SACAA, further investigations identified the alleged use of non-medical and unauthorised personnel for conducting medical assessments and filing of fraudulent and incomplete medical reports in the SACAA medical system.
“We view these allegations in a very serious light as they have a direct impact on the ability of aviation personnel to perform their duties in a safe manner as prescribed by the CARs. South Africa’s aviation sector boasts an exemplary safety record, with no fatal accidents in the scheduled airline sector in nearly forty years,” said Poppy Khoza, SACAA’s director of civil aviation.
“While our investigations are continuing, we cannot ignore these findings. Ensuring the safety of aviation services is our top priority, and we will pursue all available legal measures to resolve this issue swiftly.”
Meanwhile, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) said there has been a “pass the parcel” practice in the industry where workers find themselves out in the cold on medical certification.
“The investigation has to commence as to what was the original grounding for and what was her analysis versus what was the patient’s doctor analysis,” said Numsa’s Feroze Kader, a SACAA representative.
“A full investigation by an outside medical specialist must be done. The airlines use the licence of employees being suspended as good reason not to pay employees.”
SACAA said it had notified known operators who used Dr Sishaba’s services and had issued a General Notice to the aviation industry with further instructions.
“She is being used as a scapegoat, there are a lot of unanswered questions here. If the contract had expired, why did they let her continue with her work?” a source said.
BUSINESS REPORT