Global Aviator May 2018 / Vol. 10 / No. 5 75
speak English he was reportedly very
knowledgeable about South Africa.
He told MI that he had been
trained in the Soviet Union, was
based in Lubango and (again
according to reports) complained
about the discrimination, that the
Angolan pilots were dominated in
their own country by the Cubans.
Nothing was shared between the
Angolan and Cuban Squadrons. The
Angolan living conditions, rations,
logistics, aircraft, maintenance, etc,
were very poor comparing to what
the Cubans had available to them.
Once MI/SAAF was finished
interviewing him Vinez was taken to
the SADF military detention barracks
in Boksburg, where he remained until
being swopped for a SADF soldier
being held by the Cubans. The SADF
interview team came to the conclusion
that Vinez got lost after loosing contact
with his ground radar station.Questions surrounding the flight
Were Vinez and his partner sent
on a mission that day to check
the South African Air Force
interception capabilities?
The SAAF claims that the two
Angolan MiGs were on their radar
screens and that one broke away
back to Angola, after also entering
South West African airspace.
Were there no South African
Air Force fighters available that
day in northern South West Africa
to intercept the Angolan MiGs?Or was the SAAF certain that the
Angolan MiG(s) posed no threat?
On the 31st March 1989 in
Ruacana, Lt Vinez together with 11
Angolans and 3 Cuban soldiers held
by UNITA, was exchanged for a single
South African soldier being held by
the Cubans, Private Johan Papenfus.
The aircraft was for many years
on display on the Air Force Museum’s
hall where it was exhibited next to
a Mirage F1CZ, at Air Force Base
Swartkop. Then on 17 September
2017 the MiG 21bis was returned
to Angola as a goodwill gesture by
the South African President to mark
the official opening of the Cuito
Cuanavale monument. It was flown
to Angola inside a FAPA Ilyushin
IL-76TD Candid transport aircraft. •