Defence and Military Veterans Minister Lindiwe Sisulu will be called to explain the use of chartered private aircraft to transport President Jacob Zuma to the US, says DA MP David Maynier, who was to submit a parliamentary question on the matter on Wednesday.
Among his questions would be whether the private charter company had been approved by the Treasury, why the aircraft had to be leased in the first place, who accompanied the president, and the costs.
While Sisulu had in the past declined to answer parliamentary questions on VIP flights of the president and his deputy, Maynier said he was determined to get to the bottom of this as potentially millions of taxpayers’ rand had been spent. “Although I expect the minister to try and stonewall, I will try and pursue,” he told Independent Newspapers.
While exact costs are not available, charters can cost $14 000 an hour.
It is understood the charter was necessary as the presidential plane, the Boeing business jet, was undergoing maintenance.
There was only one presidential plane with long-range capacity, said defence analyst Helmoed Heitman, and if it was undergoing maintenance, it could mean it had been “stripped down”, depending on the type of maintenance required.
“When we bought this one, there was a lot of shouting, and calls that the president should fly SAA,” he said. “We bought, and then we underbought. If we had bought four planes it would have been better.”
Heitman said the additional planes could have been put to other uses, as air ambulances, for example, and, through modules, converted into VIP planes for the president or his cabinet as required.
“It’s all very well to say the president should fly (commercial) aircraft. It’s actually inconvenient for everyone. It’s penny wise, pound foolish,” he said, adding there were also security concerns.
The presidential plane is operated by the South African Air Force Squadron 21, which is also in charge of the Falcon 900 aircraft, which does not have long-range capacity and is usually used by the deputy president.
Arms dealer and ANC backer Ivor Ichikowitz, who was linked to the president’s chartered flight to the US in Eyewitness News reports this week, did not respond to messages.
However, it would not be the first time Ichikowitz had come to the aid of the president. In 2008 Zuma was flown to Lebanon and Kazakhstan, reportedly to raise funds for the ANC, according to the Mail & Guardian.
One of the companies within the Paramount Group, of which Ichikowitz is executive chairman, is an aviation outfit, Fortune Air, which owns a Boeing Super 727, two Gulfstream GIISPs, a Bell 222 helicopter, a Hawker 800B and a Cessna Caravan, according to the website.
It is understood Fortune Air has contracts with various government departments, including defence, to provide charter services worth millions of rand. - Political Bureau