Save the Empangeni airfield

THE deterioration of the Empangeni Airfield infrastructure, as reported in our most recent edition, is cause for great concern.

At face value, the uninformed might believe this is only a matter of importance to the relatively few people who own or maintain private aircraft.

Along with this, the short-sighted could feel that land could be better utilised for housing or other purposes.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

While not a commercial airfield akin to the Richards Bay District Airport, the aerodrome at Empangeni performs numerous vital functions.

Most important of these is with regard to its proximity to three major hospitals, namely Ngwelezana, Lower Umfolozi War Memorial and Life Garden Clinic.

The runway at Empangeni airfield is especially vital to KZN Red Cross Air Mercy Services, who transport critical patients from clinics and hospitals as widely spread as eShowe, Kwamagwaza (Melmoth), Ulundi (Nkonjeni), Ceza, Vryheid, Itshelejuba (Pongola), St Benedictine (Nongoma), Hlabisa, Mkuze Airfield (Bethesda), Mosvold, Manguzi, Mseleni, Dukuduku and St Lucia.

These are often life-or-death missions, where every minute counts.

Access to the Empangeni airfield is also critical when it comes to ‘bombing’ forest and veld fires, or even just for monitoring such blazes from the air to direct fire fighting crews.

The Empangeni airstrip is also utilised by crop sprayer aircraft – a necessity in an area where farming, forestry and cane growing are cornerstones of the local economy.

To keep aircraft safely in the air obviously requires refuelling arrangements, airplane and equipment storage, repairs and technical support.

These in turn necessitate well-kept hangars and workshops – which at the moment are in almost irreparable state due to vandalism and exposure to the elements.

Infrastructure should simply not be allowed to go to ruin.

Maintaining infrastructure is always far cheaper than replacing it – a lesson for many sectors of government as well as for private enterprise.

The Empangeni Airfield has a long and distinguished history, not only with regard to its prime function as a base for air traffic.

It has in the past served as a place for functions, social events and activities and events across a wide spectrum.

Many an old-timer has fond memories of the aerodrome in its heyday.

But it is not about nostalgia; it is about logic and common sense.

Should the Richards Bay Airport be inaccessible for any reason, such as a natural disaster, Empangeni must be available as an option.

It merits its existence as an airfield on many counts.

And there is no reason it could not again become a vibrant meeting place for its surrounding communities.