The “godmother” of SA’s first commissioned patrol corvette, First Lady Zanele Mbeki, attended the official handover of the SAS Amatola yesterday, four years after she christened and launched it in Germany.

In a ceremony, the SAS Amatola was handed over from the European-SA Corvette Consortium to government, and then commissioned into the South African Navy.

The fully operational Meko A200-class vessel, among the most advanced warships in the world today, is one of four such frigates which have been delivered to the country as part of government’s multibillion-rand strategic arms package.

“The corvettes will be critical in ensuring that for many years to come the navy will be able to provide the requisite levels of operations and support to ensure stability, peace and security of both the Indian and Atlantic ocean coastlines of SA, southern Africa and further afield,” said Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota during a military parade.

Lekota said that commissioning the vessel after the controversy spawned by the arms deal was “worth it”. He said: “Clearly, we’ve reached a point at which we are seeing the outcomes of the arms procurement. It’s all systems go, the nation has achieved this.”

The patrol corvettes would be complemented by two German-built submarines, the first of which was scheduled to arrive in April, and by strike craft and inshore patrol vessels as part of a comprehensive strategic defence capability, he said.

“Maritime defence capability is essential for our role as a global player fully prepared for any threats to the critical economic activity of the international sea routes around us,” Lekota said.

His audience included Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin and most of the top brass from all the defence services, such as South African National Defence Force chief Gen Godfrey Ngwenya and South African Navy chief, Vice-Adm Refiloe Mudimu.

Mudimu charged the vessel’s captain, David Guy Jamieson, with the ship’s commissioning and handed over a traditional symbol of command, a brass telescope, before Jamieson was piped on board the ship.

The SAS Amatola’s overall length is 121m.

The corvette has a displacement of 3600 tons, and is powered by unique combined diesel and gas turbine engines with horizontal exhausts.

Featuring a stealth design, it has a top speed of 30 knots, a range at cruising speed of about 8000 nautical miles and a complement of 107 crew.

With acknowledgements to Sapa and Business Day.