Handbook paves way for ‘Nkandla Air’

President Jacob Zuma will decide on two controversial laws that various parties have objected to. File picture: Siyabulela Duda

President Jacob Zuma will decide on two controversial laws that various parties have objected to. File picture: Siyabulela Duda

Published Nov 28, 2015

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Cape Town – The presidential handbook released on Friday, in accordance with a high court order, has clearly been recently written with “supporting Zuma’s lifestyle in mind”, the Democratic Alliance said on Saturday.

The handbook did nothing more than hand Zuma’s cronies a blank cheque, setting out to minimise presidential accountability while maximising the potential for lavish and extravagant spending, DA spokesman Sej Motau said.

“A mere 20 pages in length and dated November 2015, the handbook has clearly been recently written with supporting Zuma’s lifestyle in mind and explains why he has failed to denounce the purchase of a new VIP aircraft for his personal use – at a cost of up to R4 billion,” he said.

The handbook limited the use of commercial flights to the deputy president, and only in “special circumstances”, conveniently giving Zuma an excuse not to follow the example set by other heads of state.

In the case of the president, it mandated that the SA National Defence Force provide a suitable aircraft or charter with in-flight catering for the presidency’s account. It further allowed the president “to invite passengers to accompany him or her… provided that there is space”.

Motau said Inkwazi, the current presidential jet, had luxury seating for 18 people and a range of 6200 nautical miles. “This is clearly insufficient for the needs of Zuma Inc, as the tender document attained from Armscor specifies an extravagant jet with a range of 7200 miles and room for 30 passengers on board.”

Read together, the tender document and the handbook made it abundantly clear that the motivation for the new jet was Zuma’s desire to travel further, in greater luxury, with more of his cronies on board – all at the taxpayers’ expense.

“The handbook should serve to place firm limits on presidential expenditure to prevent the abuse of state funds. Instead it merely serves to provide guidance on who can be scapegoated by stating which departments foot the bill for various expenses, such as [the] department of defence in the case of Nkandla Air,” he said.

As the head of state and the executive, however, Zuma could not simply wash his hands of money spent in support of his lavish lifestyle.

“The release of the handbook will not prevent the DA from holding the president to account for wasteful expenditure, including the entirely unnecessary acquisition of a new aircraft. If Zuma really cared about South Africa, he would set an example of fiscal restraint and responsible spending instead of putting himself and the ANC first,” Motau said.

On October 30, in a case brought by civil rights group AfriForum, the High Court in Pretoria ruled that the controversial presidential handbook be handed over to AfriForum by the end of November.

African News Agency

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