From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, this is the Real Economy Report.
The South African Air Force finally has fully operational and certified Rooivalk attack helicopters. Keith Campbell reports.

Keith Campbell:
Although the South African Air Force has flown the country’s indigenous attack helicopter for some years, it was not operational – it was flyable but not fightable. No longer. On April First, Denel Aviation, the helicopter’s manufacturer or OEM, handed five significantly upgraded and fully operational Rooivalks over to the air force. Six more will follow, later. At the event, I spoke to Denel group Chief Executive Talib Sadik and Denel Aviation CEO Mike Kgobe. Sadik summarised the importance of the occasion to the Denel group as a whole.

Denel group Chief Executive Talib Sadik

Denel Aviation CEO Mike Kgobe

Keith Campbell:
The Chief of the South African Air Force, Lieutenant-General Carlo Gagiano, highlights the improvements which make the Rooivalk full operational.

Lieutenant-General Carlo Gagiano

Shannon de Ryhove:
Other news making headlines this week includes SacOil bolstering its executive team as it prepares for a London listing; news that the Gautrain will R49 for a single Pretoria to Johannesburg trip; and Eskom’s CEO says a low reserve margin makes maintenance difficult and raises the risk of outages.

JSE-listed SacOil has embarked on a large-scale drive to recruit seasoned “oil and gas people” for its board and executive team, CEO Robin Vela tells Engineering News Online ahead of the company’s secondary listing in London.

It will cost commuters R49 to travel on the Gautrain between the Hatfield station, in Pretoria, and Park station, in central Johannesburg, which is the longest possible trip on the 80 km rapid-rail system, set to become operational on July 1.

As winter approaches in South Africa, Eskom will be relying on its customers to use less of its product and be more energy efficient to improve the reserve margin, which will allow for more flexibility of maintenance.

That’s Creamer Media’s Real Economy Report. Join us again next week for more news and insight into South Africa’s real economy.

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