Cape Town - Charges against two of the officers implicated in the landing of a plane chartered by the Gupta family at Waterkloof Air Force Base in 2013 were dropped months ago, the defence force said on Friday.
Colonel Nomsa Khumalo and Warrant Officer Thabo Ntshisi had been back at work for months, spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini said.
They appeared before a board of inquiry and the charges against them were found to be baseless, he said.
“Khumalo and Ntshisi appeared before the board of inquiry and were investigated further, but the allegations were found not to be factual and they returned to work ages ago.”
Earlier this week, the military confirmed that charges of fraud and corruption against Lt-Col Christine Anderson and Lt-Col Stefan van Zyl had been withdrawn.
They were accused of breaches that allowed a plane carrying 200
guests attending the wedding of member of the influential Gupta family, to land at the air force base on April 30, 2013. The event caused a scandal that has haunted President Jacob Zuma.
SA National Defence Union (Sandu) national secretary Pikkie Greeff has confirmed that Anderson and Van Zyl planned to institute civil lawsuits against all the state organs involved in implicating them.
Beeld newspaper reported that they intended to cite smses mentioning Zuma to substantiate their claim that Bruce Koloane, who was at the time chief of state protocol, acted as the president's “agent”.
Koloane was demoted and remains the only person against whom action has been taken over the landing.
Sapa