South African Express suspended over safety concerns

South African government-owned regional carrier, South African Express has suspended operations following a decision by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) to suspend its AOC citing safety concerns.,

SACAA said in a statement that recent inspections had shown the carrier was non-compliant with several local aviation regulations in addition to possessing unsatisfactory safety monitoring systems. Its proposed corrective action plan was also found to be inadequate.
“The SACAA wishes to point out that recent inspections and audits on the airline’s operations have pointed to inefficient safety monitoring systems, and some level of failure by the operator to satisfactorily address concerns raised by the Regulator," it said. "The SACAA views the inefficiency of the safety monitoring systems in a serious light as it poses serious safety hazards and risks to the crew, passengers, and the public at large. For this reason, the Regulator cannot allow the operator to continue with operations until such time that the identified safety concerns are adequately addressed."
According to ch-aviation the airline is strapped for cash and is burdened with high debt levels, The airlione’s CEO Inati Ntshanga said that it was currently in talks with SACAA to resolve the issues but could offer no time frame as to when operations would resume.
South African Express operates an all-Bombardier (BBA, Montréal Trudeau) fleet of eleven CRJ-200s, two CRJ-700s, and ten Dash 8-400s on scheduled passenger flights throughout South Africa as well as to neighbouring Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.