The DA will demand answers regarding Welkom airport’s poor maintenance. On Saturday, 8 October 2022 President Cyril Ramaphosa visited Welkom for the ANC’s Letsema campaign. The President landed on the grass in front of the Civic Centre in Welkom where the Welkom Flea Market is normally held.
At the last minute, all the market exhibitioners and flea market goers were redirected to the Technical High School Sports Fields. The President’s landing at the Civic Centre raised concerns as to why he did not use the Welkom Airport which is used daily by commercial and private flyers.
On an oversight done after the visit, it became clear that the airport is dilapidated and vandalised.
- The Airport doesn’t have running water in any of the buildings and no workable toilets.
- There isn’t a reception available for arriving passengers.
- There are no working offices for municipal officials to carry out the necessary administration of documents.
- The control tower is vandalised resulting in no means of communication between the airport and the pilot.
- There are no lights on the landing strip meaning that no aeroplanes can land after sunset.
- Passengers cannot access the main building to exit the airport, causing no access control for passengers coming in and out of the airport.
- The airport has no point-of-sale system, leaving pilots to only use cash for landing fees.
- Most concerning, there is no way of tracking whether the landing fees are indeed being paid to Matjhabeng Local Municipality as there is no receipt system.
The lack of management and maintenance has resulted in a loss of economic growth. Local events, such as the National Gliding Championships held at Welkom airport annually, are affected negatively depriving the municipality of tourism revenue.
Pressure will be applied by tabling formal questions to the Matjhabeng Local Municipality council to ensure that the airport’s essentials are fixed so that it can contribute to the local economy. The DA is focused on economic growth and job creation and will do everything possible to ensure that Welkom Airport receives the attention it requires to attract more opportunities.