Publication	BuaNews
Date	2012-01-20

Johannesburg – Defence and Military Veterans Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu, has described allegations that South Africa was to procure a warship as wrong, unfair and unethical.

Last week the Citizen newspaper claimed that a programme had been established to procure a warship that could operate ‘more than a dozen helicopters’ and ‘vertical take-off jets’.

It alleged that President Jacob Zuma had personally authorised the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to acquire an aircraft carrier as part of a project codenamed ‘Project Millennium’.

Briefing reporters in Johannesburg on Friday, Sisulu said: “I know nothing about the procurement of a warship, so that headline in the Citizen … was misleading, unethical, unfair and wrong, we need to put that on record.”

She said the department would approach the Press Ombudsman about the matter. “We are expecting the Citizen to apologise to us.”

The newspaper claimed that the project could potentially cost more than the four frigates bought in the controversial arms deal. The ships were apparently due to be sourced from France, Germany or the Netherlands.

With acknowledgements BuaNews.

The real facts :

Project Millennium is a registered SANDF project on its SCAMP Master Projects List.

Its function is strategic sealift and sustainment  (SSS).

It is a Landing Platform Dock (LPD) or Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH) type of vessel.

The project is in the definition phase.

Depending on the actual vessel type acquired, up to three vessels of between 8 000 tonnes and 18 000 tonnes will be acquired (one for the West Coast one for the East Coast and one for the Ayenseaeeeeeeeee.

Right now all SANDF acquisitions, except possibly Project Biro, are under scrutiny in terms of the Defence Review, which is hopefully to be completed this year.

In the 2005 to 2007 era all and sundry in the who's who department of the Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems (TKMS) Cabal, including Vice-President of International Sales Rear Admiral (For No Good Reason) (Retired) (For Every Good Reason) Jonny Kamerman was trying to convince the DoD and SA Navy not to acquire these LPDs through standard acquisition procedures, but to exercise the Project Sitron Corvette Contract Option for a 5th Vessel and acquire an LPD from Germany out, rather than a 5th patrol corvette.

It was not prudence that prevented this heinous crime against the South African taxpayer (who despite all indications sometimes to the contrary are a part of humanity), but the beady eyes of German and South African investigators watching the feeding stations of these Bumiputerian low lives through their night vision monoculars and online wonga transmission alerts.

So Millennium, despite all the efforts of the normal suspects, survived the 2005/2007 round to become a great opportunity for the 2012 to 2015 team.

Aluta continua.

And may Pravin Gordhan collect and collect and collect successfully in the interim.

As interesting as all the above actually is, even more interesting will be the responses the Press Ombudsman and The Citizen to Her Royal Highness, the Queen of Defences's demand for a retraction and apology of the latter's press article.

Personally :

I think that we should buy at least three because every tin-pot showered head and his missuses should have these LPDs at his or her disposal for instant geo-political gratification.

That is, as long as I get the contract to fit and support all the electronic mission systems onboard.

I would also like the contract to provide the training equipment to train a squadron of new South African pilots to fly the SA Air Force's or South African Fleet Air Arm's newly acquired vertical take-off and landing jet fighters off and hopefully back on to the new LPDs. This will be a contract of very long duration, but it will be worth it.

In any case, South Africans, in general, do not seem to mind how their taxes are spent.

They even pay more than need be.

Most play the Lotto every week.

And queue in front of me at the Quick Spar to buy their Lotto tickets when I've got a world to alter.


So vhy not?