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We want to know who flew, where, why and at what cost – demands DA

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota has ordered that each and every flight chartered for senior politicians and VIPs during the past two-and-a-half years must be investigated.

Lekota said yesterday that a ministerial committee of inquiry would probe the government’s hiring of private jets.

The investigation will scrutinise all flights chartered by the department between April 27 2004 and December 10 this year, amid allegations that the South African Air Force has a critical shortage of pilots and technicians.

The committee will be headed by a renowned businesswoman, advocate Kgomotso Moroka, who was also involved in the 2002 Myburgh Commission into the rand’s exchange rate. She will be assisted by retired South African National Defence Force General Benno Smith.

The committee will review the department’s entire process of chartering aircraft and decide whether it is costing the taxpayer too much money. It will also ask whether hiring private planes is a security risk.

This comes in the wake of several recent “gravy plane” flights – which have soared to as much as R10-million – taken by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

Lekota, however, maintains that she did not decide on her travelling arrangements.

“I am deliberately placing the Department of Defence in the dock,” Lekota said. “It is the department that carries the sole responsibility and right to transport VIPs, and decide on the kind of transport used and the cost.”

Speaking in Pretoria, Lekota revealed that every travel request received by his department (within the timeframe) would be retrieved and scrutinised, as would each and every flight chartered.

Although he did not give a deadline for the committee’s report, he said that after it got off the ground in early January, it would take two to three months.

When asked by The Star whether the report would be made public, revealing crucial information about how many flights had been chartered and at what cost, Lekota said it would not, adding that only the report’s executive summary and recommendations would be communicated to the public.

Although the Democratic Alliance welcomed the commission, it said it was worthless unless the report was made public and debated in parliament.

“What should be so secret about their travels? We want to know who flew, where they flew, why and at what cost,” said DA spokesperson Roy Jankielsohn, adding that it would be easy for the committee to cover up any wrongdoing, such as hiring planes for private use, if the report was not released.

Lekota said there would be “not a single question that will not be raised”.

When asked about reports that Mlambo-Ngcuka had requested to be flown around in luxury, Lekota lashed out at the allegations, calling them unjust and untrue.

Asked about Mlambo-Ngcuka’s recent flights, Lekota said: “You (the media) are concerned about one or two flights. I am not chasing a little sensational story which means nothing tomorrow. I’m concerned about the whole system and all the flights that have been taken.”

Lekota described Mlambo-Ngcuka’s latest international flights, which cost around R4,5-million, as shocking, irregular and out of proportion.

Responding to a question on whether the commission would look at the necessity for the purchase of another plane for Mlambo-Ngcuka, Lekota said “nothing is impossible”.

The findings would allow the public to decide whether there had been illegal or corrupt acts to provide a gravy train to certain individuals, he added.

Lekota explained that his department was responsible for transporting the president, deputy president, former presidents and VIPs, some ministers and senior SANDF officials.

He said that anyone with information could approach|the commission. New revelations could result in the commission’s mandate being altered.

The commission has been mandated to:

nScrutinise the whole system (processes and procedures) employed by the department in chartering aircraft and determine whether the system is efficient and cost effective; and

nReview the processes and procedures of the department in respect of the chartering of aircraft for transporting VIPs between April 2004 and now.