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The presidency and the departments of defence and foreign affairs are among those who have been asked to make submissions to a government-appointed committee probing the hiring of private jets for top government officials.

Already two weeks into the job, head of the two-person inquiry Advocate Kgomotso Moroka said she hoped to wrap up the inquiry by April.

She said charter companies which had won tenders with the department of defence had also been invited to make submissions, while those charter companies who believed that they should be hired could also send in reports.

Moroka said she and her assistant, retired South African National Defence Force General Benno Smith, were essentially “reviewing departmental processes and procedures” to see whether these had been adhered to.

The inquiry comes after last year’s furore over the millions spent on chartering planes for Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

Her “gravy plane” woes started at the end of 2005 with her costly and controversial holiday to the United Arab Emirates. The outcry reached a climax when it was found that it had also cost about R4.5 million to charter a flight for Mlambo-Ngcuka to the United Kingdom last year.

At the time, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota described it as “shocking, irregular and out of proportion” and subsequently instituted the inquiry.

However, Lekota was quick to come to Mlambo-Ngcuka’s defence, saying she was not responsible for her travel arrangements. He also ordered all flights chartered for senior politicians and VIPs between April 27 2004 and December 10 2006 be investigated, after allegations that the South African Air Force had a critical shortage of pilots and technicians.

Lekota’s department is res-ponsible for transporting the president, deputy president, former presidents and VIPs, some ministers and senior SANDF officials.

The presidency and ministries of defence and foreign affairs used the service most frequently, Moroka said yesterday. She said she and Smith were working through defence force documents related to the case and expected to complete the process in April, thereby meeting the three month deadline set by Lekota.

She said depending on the submissions received, oral hearings might be held, but only as a means of clarification, and stressed that the committee’s work was not public.

She said what happened after they had wrapped up their work was up to Lekota.

“Even if I find any wrong-doing I can’t pass any judgment,” Moroka said.