Cape Town - Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba is briefing the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs on the agreement between Department of Home Affairs and Fireblade Aviation on the special VIP terminal which the company operates at OR Tambo International Airport.
The Oppenheimer family, which owns Fireblade, took Gigaba to court in 2016 for rejecting their application to operate a special terminal at the airport in Johannesburg. According to the Oppenheimers, Gigaba had initially agreed to grant them a permit for the operation of the terminal but reneged under pressure from the Gupta family - an allegation which Gigaba has vehemently denied.
Last week Jonathan and Nicky Oppenheimer defended their operation at a tense meeting with MPs. They denied that the terminal operates solely to benefit the billionaire family. They accused the home affairs minister of lying about his decision on the terminal.
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