Air Force Base Waterkloof {AFB Wklf} is an airbase of the South African Air Force. It is situated on the outskirts of Pretoria, and is the SAAF's busiest airbase. The base's name means "water ravine" in Afrikaans and in Dutch. Despite the name, this base is not located in the suburban town of Waterkloof, Pretoria, but lies to the south of Pretoria, 4.34 nmi (8.04 km) to the northeast of Centurion, Gauteng and 3.37 nmi (6.24 km) from AFB Swartkop, at an elevation of 1506 metres (4940 ft).
AFB Waterkloof | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 AFB Waterkloof passenger terminal. | |||||||||||||||
 Control tower at AFB Waterkloof with a South African Air Force Saab JAS 39 Gripen in the foreground. | |||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | South African Air Force | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Centurion, Tshwane, Gauteng, South Africa | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 4,940 ft / 1,506 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 25°49′48″S 28°13′21″E / 25.83000°S 28.22250°E | ||||||||||||||
| Website | af.mil.za | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
  FAWK Location in Gauteng  FAWK FAWK (South Africa) | |||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
The base motto is Acquirit Qui Tuetur (He Obtains Who Defends).
Units currently hosted
edit- 21 Squadron – VIP transport
- 28 Squadron – Medium transport
- 41 Squadron – Light transport
- 44 Squadron – Light transport
- 111 Squadron – Light transport (reserve)
- 140 Squadron – Light transport (reserve)
- 504 Squadron – Security
- 5 Air Servicing Unit – Maintenance support
- Central Photographic Institute – Photographic services
- JARIC, (Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre) The SANDF National Imagery Exploitation Centre – Strategic Imagery Intelligence (IMINT) support
- Mobile Deployment Wing – Emergency response
- SAAF Telecommunications Centre – Communications
- Ditholo Training Area is managed as an external component of AFB Waterkloof
History
editThe base was officially opened on 1 August 1938 as Waterkloof Air Station.[1] Since that time it has always been in the service of the SAAF. It was upgraded to Air Force Base during World War II.
Aviation
edit- Non-directional beacon – WL315.0
- VHF omnidirectional range – WKV116.9
- Tower – 124.1
Controversy
editOn 30 April 2013 a flight full of Indian citizens who had come to attend a wedding of the Gupta family landed at Waterkloof airbase. This was in contravention of South African law since the airbase is classified as a National Key Point; in theory not available to be used for personal air travel by unaffiliated private individuals. It was later alleged that former president Jacob Zuma is the one who ordered the flight to land.[2] The incident would later earn the moniker "Guptagate" in the South African media.[3]
In April 2023 the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and his family landed at the base during their vacation to a South African game lodge in the Eastern Cape. This resulted in comparisons with the landing of Gupta family members at the base 10 years before whilst also closely following the unsuccessful extradition of the Guptas from custody in the UAE to face trail for corruption in South Africa.[4][5]
In May 2023, a year after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, a US-sanctioned Russian transport plane landed at the airport carrying an unknown cargo. The landing further strained South African-United States relations by increasing American skepticism of South Africa's self-proclaimed neutral stance in the conflict.[6][7][8]
References
edit- "World Aeronautical Database". Archived from the original on 29 September 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
Notes
edit- ^ "Waterkloof Airbase". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
- ^ "The Guptas and their links to South Africa's Jacob Zuma". BBC News. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
- ^ "Gupta family seen as symbol of Zuma's failing rule". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
- ^ Dentlinger, Lindsay. "Cope, ATM call on Ramaphosa to justify UAE president's 'backdoor entry' into SA". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
- ^ Dayimani, Malibongwe. "10 years since the Guptas at Waterkloof, UAE royals quietly landed at a South African military base". News24. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
- ^ Fabricius, Peter (7 May 2023). "INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: The landing of a sanctioned Russian plane at Waterkloof undermines Mufamadi's US mission". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
- ^ Chutel, Lynsey; Eligon, John (4 May 2023). "South Africa Allowed Russian Plane Under U.S. Sanctions to Land at Base". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
- ^ Gibson, Erika (4 May 2023). "Russian aircraft of sanctioned firm in stealth Waterkloof landing". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
External links
edit
- Waterkloof page on the unofficial website of the South African Airforce Checked 29 March 2012
 | This military aviation article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This South African military article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |