South Africa’s Eastern Cape cancels air ambulance contract

South Africa’s Eastern Cape Department of Health has cancelled a Rand 110 million (US$7.3 million) three-year air ambulance contract, after the contractor failed to deliver on the required services.

The contractor, a consortium of Leli Investments and Black Eagle Aviation based in the city of East London, Eastern Cape, won a tender in 2020 to operate the service, following the end of a previous eight-year contract with former incumbent operator, National Airways Corporation (NAC).

However, at the time of the original inception date of the new service in October of that year, the Leli/Black Eagle consortium had failed to meet tender specifications to operate the service, according to a report from 2 October 2020 by Sowetan Live. This included a failure to acquire an aircraft winch for offshore rescue missions.

On 7 October 2020, NAC, which was one of the losing bidders for the contract, challenged the decision to award the contract to the new consortium, arguing that Leli Investments’ Director, Sibongile Gobile, had no prior experience in the aviation industry. The company was founded by Gobile in May 2019.

The consortium was subject to an interdict between November 2020 and July 2021

NAC also persuaded the court to file an interdict halting the implementation of the contract pending a review hearing – which came into force on 17 November 2020.

The interdict was later lifted in July 2021 as the court ruled that Leli and Black Eagle should be able to continue operating the service while the review was finalized, with a new launch date for the service set for 1 November 2021. The consortium had argued that it would suffer ‘irreparable harm’ if it was not allowed to continue with the service.

However, despite claims by the consortium in court that it had acquired a range of assets to operate the service, including three helicopters configured for aeromedical operations, Leli and Black Eagle never managed to launch a functional air ambulance service.

Dr Rolene Wagner, Superintendent-General of the Eastern Cape Department of Health, confirmed that the agency had cancelled the contract ‘for being in breach of the service level agreement’ in a statement on Thursday 10 March.

She added that: “The department is embarking on a new competitive process for aeromedical services. The procurement plan and timelines will be communicated once the recent communication from the Treasury regarding the Constitutional Court ruling on procurement is considered.”  

Fellow South African helicopter operator Henley Air operates a helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) using six Bell aircraft.