Cape Town - Frustrated with the slow pace of transformation in the South African Air Force, MPs have asked Chief of the Air Force, Lieutenant General Carlo Gagiano when he would retire.
Gagiano and his team were at Parliament on Thursday to report on progress around transformation in their department.
Following their presentation, which the committee said was "disappointing and frustrating", Gagiano was asked when he would retire to pave the way for black people.
He said that he had retired in March, but was reappointed by President Jacob Zuma for one more year.
At issue in his presentation was that the majority of black people in the Air Force seemed to remain at the bottom while the middle and senior management was populated by white people.
Gagiano conceded that there was a problem, adding that it was costly to fast track the retirement of the senior personnel and allow black people to rise to the top.
He said that white seniors were reluctant to leave as they had signed contracts which only allowed them to retire at the age of 60.
"Voluntary resignations have dropped considerably with the downturn of the world economy and the improvement of conditions of service for SANDF members," he said.
He indicated that most senior members under 55 were reluctant to accept retirement packages due to the limitations of the Government Employees Pension Fund.
He said that "rank mobility" was being blocked by lack of vacant posts at senior level, adding that course backlogs had prevented the promotion of junior Non Commissioned Officers in time, while enhancing Black Middle Management officers in 2005 had contributed to decreased black candidates available for senior supervisors' posts.
Also of concern to the committee was that African women were being denied the opportunity to fly because they did not fit in the cockpit.
The committee said that the Air Force should come up with a program to accommodate these women "who want to put their lives on the line to defend their country".
In terms transformation in the forces, MPs said that the South African Navy was leading while the Air Force was at the bottom.
Gagiano and his delegation were set to return to Parliament next month with better responses for the legislators.
