Speculation about the charter flight used by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa for an official visit to Japan prompted the defence minister to make “a rare decision to appear” before the media.
This‚ Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said at a hastily convened press conference yesterday‚ was because of “uncertainty and need to reassure South Africans regarding an important matter of security and political accountability”.
Ramaphosa and a delegation flew to Japan in a jet owned by the Gupta family at a cost of millions of rands. Besides the cost‚ it raised the question as to why a jet owned by a company of which President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane is a director, was used to transport VIPs.
Zuma’s close relationship with the Gupta family from India was heavily criticised in April 2013 when a plane chartered by the Guptas carrying 270 wedding guests was allowed to land at Waterkloof Air Force Base.
A government investigation exonerated Zuma and his cabinet‚ and blamed the landing on “collusion” by officials. Only one was sanctioned.
Mapisa-Nqakula kicked off yesterday’s briefing by distancing the Presidency from any responsibility for chartering the flight‚ saying the “air travel and movement of the is a mandated responsibility of the SA Air Force (SAAF).”
This is done by “a dedicated squadron of the SAAF…informed by the requirements indicated by the offices of the principal concerned”, she said.
While “the VVIP squadron of the SAAF maintains and operates its own fleet of aircrafts…if these are not available for any reason‚ a suitable aircraft may be chartered to be operated by the SAAF”.
Charter contracts are handled by the National Treasury (RT-61 contract) and the “SAAF’s only input in this process is to supply a user requirement specification (URS).”
Treasury then submits a list of possible suppliers to the SAAF.
ExecuJet‚ the second company on the list, was used‚ Mapisa-Nqakula said‚ as it “had the Global Express aircraft available which could complete the flight with only one refueling stop and carry the required amount of passengers”.
“The information provided to the SAAF on the RT-61 does not include ownership of the aircraft‚” said Mapisa-Nqakula‚ before adding that “ExecuJet itself doesn’t own and operate its own aircraft. It manages a fleet of aircraft on behalf of various owners.
The Gupta family had earlier said it was not involved directly in leasing the plane to the government delegation.
“Execujet has an agreement with Westdawn to charter the aircraft on a commercial basis when not in use by ourselves .
“We are not involved in any of Execujet’s arrangements with any other third party and have no knowledge on the detail of any of said third-party arrangements‚” the family’s spokesman‚ Gary Naidoo‚ said.
Gupta charter plane justified
This‚ Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said at a hastily convened press conference yesterday‚ was because of “uncertainty and need to reassure South Africans regarding an important matter of security and political accountability”.
Ramaphosa and a delegation flew to Japan in a jet owned by the Gupta family at a cost of millions of rands. Besides the cost‚ it raised the question as to why a jet owned by a company of which President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane is a director, was used to transport VIPs.
Zuma’s close relationship with the Gupta family from India was heavily criticised in April 2013 when a plane chartered by the Guptas carrying 270 wedding guests was allowed to land at Waterkloof Air Force Base.
A government investigation exonerated Zuma and his cabinet‚ and blamed the landing on “collusion” by officials. Only one was sanctioned.
Mapisa-Nqakula kicked off yesterday’s briefing by distancing the Presidency from any responsibility for chartering the flight‚ saying the “air travel and movement of the is a mandated responsibility of the SA Air Force (SAAF).”
This is done by “a dedicated squadron of the SAAF…informed by the requirements indicated by the offices of the principal concerned”, she said.
While “the VVIP squadron of the SAAF maintains and operates its own fleet of aircrafts…if these are not available for any reason‚ a suitable aircraft may be chartered to be operated by the SAAF”.
Charter contracts are handled by the National Treasury (RT-61 contract) and the “SAAF’s only input in this process is to supply a user requirement specification (URS).”
Treasury then submits a list of possible suppliers to the SAAF.
ExecuJet‚ the second company on the list, was used‚ Mapisa-Nqakula said‚ as it “had the Global Express aircraft available which could complete the flight with only one refueling stop and carry the required amount of passengers”.
“The information provided to the SAAF on the RT-61 does not include ownership of the aircraft‚” said Mapisa-Nqakula‚ before adding that “ExecuJet itself doesn’t own and operate its own aircraft. It manages a fleet of aircraft on behalf of various owners.
The Gupta family had earlier said it was not involved directly in leasing the plane to the government delegation.
“Execujet has an agreement with Westdawn to charter the aircraft on a commercial basis when not in use by ourselves .
“We are not involved in any of Execujet’s arrangements with any other third party and have no knowledge on the detail of any of said third-party arrangements‚” the family’s spokesman‚ Gary Naidoo‚ said.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos