Minister lived the life of a jetsetter

International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane would be forgiven for being mistaken for an international jet-setter, given that she spent R10 million in chartering 14 jets and R3m on luxury hotel accommodation in 15 months.

Over the past few months, details of excessive travel expenses incurred by members of President Jacob Zuma’s cabinet have been given in written replies to questions from DA MPs.

Nkoana-Mashabane said in a written reply that between April last year and June this year she had 14 chartered flights at a cost of more than R10.4m. She also spent R2.4m on tickets for 26 business class, 14 first class and three economy class flights.

While neither of Nkoana-Mashabane’s deputies – Ebrahim Ebrahim and Marius Fransman, whose bill included his predecessor’s – chartered any private jets, their international travel costs topped R1m for the same period. Their domestic travel bill was just over R416 000.

The DA’s spokesman on international relations, Kenneth Mubu, MP, said the party’s calculations indicated that, had the minister used commercial airlines, she would have saved taxpayers R9.6m.

“No doubt the cost of these flights to the South African people is the furthest thing from her mind as she kicks back on a luxury jet. Now she owes us all an explanation.”

Mubu said it was clear that private jets were the minister’s “preferred mode of transport”.

The DA intended asking the public protector to launch an investigation into the minister’s conduct.

Nkoana-Mashabane’s spokesman, Clayson Monyela, said she was the “most-travelled” minister because of the “responsibility attached to the portfolio”.

“Ministers in other countries get dedicated planes to execute their foreign policies. The minister doesn’t have a plane dedicated to her.”

Monyela said the chartered aircraft were to get to countries in Africa that were difficult to reach and didn’t have direct flights.

The minister was often called to respond to matters in other African countries at short notice.

“If there’s a cheaper way of flying across the continent, the minster would be happy to take it.”

Chartering flights was not the “preferred option” but at times “necessary”, he said.

Nkoana-Mashabane used 14 chartered private jets to visit several African countries.

She had used a chartered jet on October 17-26 last year to attend meetings in the capitals of Egypt, Kenya, North and South Sudan.

On December 19-21, the minister travelled to the capitals of north and south Sudan and a city in Equatorial Guinea.

On January 5-7, she chartered a flight to Nigeria and Ghana.

Asked whether the minister’s business class and first class flights were considered the cheaper option, Monyela said members of the executive’s mode of transport were regulated by the Ministerial Handbook, which “entitled” them to travel in those classes.

“This is what the Ministerial Handbook entitles ministers to do.”

Given his assertion that Nkoana-Mashabane preferred the cheapest option, why did she not travel economy class?

“Doing the number of trips to fulfil all that she should, can you imagine, what do you think that would do to her health?”

Mubu said: “This is the minister who, in September, chartered a flight from Oslo apparently to avoid having her luggage scanned.

“But now a different picture is emerging. The chartered flight from Oslo was not a one-off – expensive chartered flights are clearly her preferred mode of travel.” - Political Bureau

All they want for Christmas is a flying carpet

INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS

Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Lindiwe Sisulu. Photo: Mxolisi Madela

Times are hard, Christmas is just around the corner and the last time President Jacob Zuma flew to New York it cost R6.33 million, so Defence and Military Veterans Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has come up with a cheaper alternative to put in his Christmas stocking – a magic carpet.

She revealed in a written parliamentary reply to the DA’s David Maynier on Wednesday that the chartered flight which took Zuma to a UN General Assembly meeting in September had cost R3.73m for the Boeing 727 and its crew and an estimated R2.6m for fuel and handling.

However, in a riposte to Maynier’s suggestion that Zuma was about to receive a “very big Christmas present” in the form of two new aircraft for him and Kgalema Motlanthe, Sisulu suggested it would be cheaper for the president and his deputy to use a Persian carpet.

On Tuesday, the National Assembly was debating the budget adjustments for national departments, when Maynier rose and tossed Sisulu a curve-ball:

“I understand… that the honourable minister is in the process of buying the honourable deputy president a VERY BIG Christmas present,” he declared, referring to reports the defence department is to cough up R1.6 billion to acquire two new aircraft for the use of Zuma and his deputy, Motlanthe.

“Will the minister tell this House whether she really believes that it is justified to purchase business jets at the cost of billions of rands, when so many of our people are poor and destitute?”

Sisulu, unimpressed, unleashed her withering sense of humour: “However, for your own benefit, honourable Maynier, I have just returned from Oman. I went to the souk, which is their market.

“And I went shopping,” she announced defiantly, shooting Maynier a deadpan glance.

“I went shopping for Persian carpets, because I am informed they still fly, as they did so many years ago. I’m thinking perhaps it might be cheaper to get a Persian carpet for the president and deputy president if they’re not going to get business jets. I don’t know what else you expect them to use.”

MPs, including Maynier, collapsed with mirth, but the dogged opposition member decided to push the envelope of his love-hate relationship with the minister with his next question.

“One must conclude from the minister’s reply that she has in fact not read her own adjustments budget.

“Had she done so she would have known that there’s a very substantial virement (adjustment) to support the VIP (transport) capability. But the question is, since the minister is doing so much Christmas shopping, will she be buying me a Christmas present this year?” he asked.

But Sisulu was not in a forgiving mood: “But the next Christmas present that you would appreciate is to be on the front page of every newspaper, that’s what you live for every day… And other elements of representing the poor is just a by-the-way and is an excuse.”

Maynier had had the rug pulled from under him. - Political Bureau

It all comes down to size of your… plane

Size evidently matters when it comes to the intercontinental jets that carry kings, queens, presidents and prime ministers on official business abroad.

If you scan the to-scale illustrations of such aircraft, you will get a rough sense of how nations rank in the world, or at least how they think they should.

US President Barack Obama, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are all out there in front, at 70m of aircraft each, all flying Boeing 747s or customised variations.

The US’s Air Force One is the industry standard, with its sophisticated logistical and security facilities, including a mini “White House” for the president, with an office from which he can address the nation while flying, plus comfortable sleeping quarters, medical clinic and so on.

When India upgraded its prime minister’s intercontinental transport in 2003 from a standard 747 hired from the national carrier Air India to the dedicated 747-400, it was very much inspired by Air Force One, according to India media commentators.

They say Air India One now also has jamming devices, chaff dispensers, a medical room, secure communication facilities, in-flight refuelling capabilities and other electronic warfare devices.

Indian officials suggest that some journalistic licence has been taken here and that Singh still flies in an Air India 747-400 hired from the airline’s normal fleet, configured especially for his purposes, with meeting and sleeping quarters and so on – but reconfigured afterwards for normal commercial passenger flights.

Hu’s travel arrangements differ, in that his 747s remain permanently with the People’s Liberation Army Air Force fleet.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is just a nose behind the three 747s in his Ilyushin Il-96-300PU, length 68m, range 15 000km reportedly fitted out in Britain at an extra cost of about £10 million (R131m), with gold taps, silk curtains and the like.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy travels in a specially converted Airbus A330-223, length 58.8m, range 15 400km.

Though the French media have taken the usual digs at Sarkozy for the alleged pretentiousness and extravagance of this largish plane, it is quite an old machine, bought from an airline.

The big planes flown by Hu, Singh and Medvedev suggest that the challenge from the major emerging economies – now grouped as Brics, the Brazil, Russia, India, China and now South Africa forum – to the Western powers for global dominance is also largely reflected in the air.

Brazil, though, is rather an exception to this rule. President Dilma Rousseff, elected last year, travels in an Airbus A-319-CJ, the corporate jet version of the A-319 commercial passenger aircraft.

At 33.8m it falls well short of the other Brics aircraft, though it is much the same size as the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) which President Jacob Zuma now flies – but which he finds inadequate, according to the Defence Department.

Upgrading to something larger than a BBJ, though, would also put Zuma ahead of Australian Governor-General Quentin Bryce and Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who fly in dedicated BBJs operated by the Royal Australian Air Force.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan also flies a BBJ.

One conspicuous absentee from this aerial competition is Britain.

Because of drastic austerity measures and a national aversion to ostentation by its leader, the UK has no dedicated intercontinental air transport for Queen Elizabeth or Prime Minister David Cameron.

They have to make do with scheduled, commercial flights or charter aircraft, and even these prompt howls of “extravagance” from the political opposition and the press.

The Nordic countries are generally just as modest. Norway’s King Harald and Queen Sonja visited South Africa two years ago on regular commercial flights.

Zuma is among the front runners in this fleet of leaders, travelling neck and neck with Gillard (with a gross domestic product about 3.4 times South Africa’s) and Rousseff of Brazil (GDP about 5.7 times larger) and also wing tip to wing tip with Jonathan, with a GDP a little more than half South Africa’s.

On the international pretension index, which measures size of presidential jets relative to GDP, the UK, with no such dedicated aircraft, scores an award-winning zero; the US, despite Air Force One, a very low 4.8; Brazil also a very low 6; China a modest 12, Australia a less modest 27; India a rather presumptuous 44 (though with a big discount for only leasing the planes); and South Africa a worryingly conceited 92 – though much less so than Nigeria’s rather pompous 166.

And that ranking will only get worse if South Africa does acquire a bigger presidential jet or two, as defence spokesman Ndivhuwo Mabaya has said the ministry is planning to do. “The new, bigger plane is going to be responsible for longer international trips such as (to) Europe and America.

“The current one (the Boeing Business Jet) will be used mainly for domestic regional trips, so that when the one is resting, we make use of the other one,” he was quoted as saying.

The BBJ has a range of more than 11 000km, so one wonders where Zuma is planning to travel with the larger aircraft.

Media have speculated that two Boeing 767-300 ERs, which would cost about $164m (R1.36 billion) each, are on the shopping list.

That would push the total price tag well beyond the R1.6bn the Defence Ministry has reportedly budgeted for the upgrade, though leasing is evidently an option.

Yet the range of the 767 is pretty much the same as the BBJ’s, so that would defeat the official reason for laying out a billion-plus to upgrade.

Or is it really just another case of size mattering?

At 54.9m in length, the 767 would put Zuma well ahead of that upstart Jonathan (who’s been voting funny on the UN Security Council and elsewhere lately) and right up there in formation with the likes of Sarkozy, useful to keep an eye on him, especially when he’s in Africa.

Yes, it would also boost our pretension index to 155, just behind Nigeria’s. But that’s in purely economic terms.

In political terms the upgrade would do no more than express our rightful place as the continent’s superpower and a major emerging player, surely? It’s important to look the part, not so?

 - The Star

Sisulu in aviation court row

The Defence establishment failed this week to meet a court date to explain its seemingly bizarre actions in negotiating two separate and mutually exclusive tenders for the same VIP air transport contract at the same time.

With Defence and Military Veterans Minister Lindiwe Sisulu as first respondent, and the Defence Secretariat and Armscor included in the list, the military were required by an order of the Pretoria High Court to provide reasons for the cancellation of an R826 million contract awarded to aviation outfit AdoAir earlier this year.

Thereafter the court would decide whether to order the military bosses to reinstate the contract.

By an earlier high court decision, the government was compelled to cancel a separate contract concluded with provider ExecuJet in terms of a second tender process – entered into while the AdoAir contract was still being finalised, and without AdoAir being informed there were any problems.

But no record of the decision was provided to clear the confusion, nor was any affidavit opposing the AdoAir application lodged with the court. Now a new court date has been set for December 29 for the matter to be argued and finally decided.

DEAL GROUNDED: The Department of Defence has been ordered by the High Court to provide reasons why it cancelled its contract with AdoAir.

INLSA

Confirming that an affidavit opposing the AdoAir application for the reinstatement of its five-year lease contract was in preparation, Defence ministry spokesman Ndivhuwo Mabaya said the matter would from now be handled by the Department of Defence. “We will be asking for the minister’s name to be removed from the list of respondents,” Mabaya said. “This is a question of procurement and she is not in charge of procurement.”

Mabaya went on to explain that the reason no record had been furnished to the court of the cancellation of the AdoAir contract was that no such decision had been taken in the first place.

He said that, though the contract was initially given to AdoAir “the parties couldn’t agree on terms and no contract was actually entered into”.

AdoAir contests Mabaya’s version, specifying in court papers that after the contract was originally awarded in March this year – and the company entered into fine tuning negotiations with the Defence department – no glitches were encountered. Nor was there any failure to agree on terms, nor any objections or reservations registered by the military.

It was, by AdoAir’s account, all systems go, when the bombshell hit – in a report published on the South African Air Force’s website stating the contract had been taken away from AdoAir and a new lease had “been concluded with a large and respected South African company”, later identified as ExecuJet.

The ExecuJet contract, it transpired, had been concluded on the basis of an entirely separate tender for the same service, this one issued by Armscor rather than the Defence department.

Then it got really confusing. With the Defence department failing to respond to AdoAir’s requests for clarification, the chief of the Air Force, Lieutenant Carlo Gagiano stepped in, reassuring AdoAir’s executives that the contract remained valid and would be going ahead – and indicating he would sign off the deal himself.

But on July 4, apparently overriding Gagiano’s intervention, then Secretary of Defence Mpumi Mpofu dispatched a letter indicating the department had reservations around the deal and all bets were off. AdoAir insists that no such reservations had been registered in the appropriate forum of meetings with government stakeholders to finalise the contract.

Mpofu’s claim was therefore regarded as claims not made in good faith.

In the fallout, both Mpofu and Gagiano tendered their resignations, though in the event Mpofu’s was accepted while Gagiano was persuaded to stay on.

Contacted by The Sunday Independent, AdoAir’s lawyer Dr Gerrie Ebersohn dismissed as “absolute nonsense” later justifications from the government that the company had been unable to raise financing to buy the two jets required in terms of the lease agreement. As is recorded in the court papers, Nedbank had guaranteed funding for the deal.

To date, AdoAir has successfully sued for the cancellation of the wildcard Armscor contract awarded to ExecuJet, but confusion still reigns around its own on-off deal with the Defence department.

As recently as August – after the cancellation of the ExecuJet contract – a flurry of meetings took place where, according to AdoAir executive Daniel Joubert in a supplementary affidavit, the department indicated it was “finalising a review of the ‘process’ so the parties can proceed with the tender awarded to the applicant”.

This was especially motivated in light of the fact that South Africa’s presidential Boeing was due to be grounded for maintenance from September and urgent interventions needed to be made.

Then silence again until, finally, on November 1 – with the court order to explain the de facto cancellation of the contract already in force – Sisulu’s attorneys Xulu Liversage Inc said they had been instructed to reopen negotiations and to agree on time frames with a view to validating the AdoAir contract.

But this also proved another false start and the trail went cold yet again.

Meanwhile, VIP aircraft are chartered in terms of special legislation governing so-called “transversal” contracts – those that fall outside of the supply chain management system because they are designed to service more than one government department – administered by the National Treasury. As such they are not subject to the usual checks and balances to which public sector tenders are subjected.

The provision of VIP aircraft has resulted in ongoing scandals in recent months, with Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe left stranded in Finland and President Jacob Zuma piloted to New York by an airman convicted of mercenary activity.

- IOL

Dismay over pay, perks of politicians

Politicians face a “rising tide of criticism” over their salaries – and the perks that come with their jobs – causing citizens to question their integrity, the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers has warned.

The commission has released its long-awaited recommendations on what constitutes acceptable “tools of trade” – resources required by public office-bearers to perform their duties – and how and by whom these benefits should be managed.

It said suitably qualified individuals would avoid seeking public office “when the ethical compass of public office-bearers is subject to challenge”.

“The provision of tools of trade costs the state money and the current exact value of the tools of trade is not possible to quantify as the public office-bearers’ institutions do not track or account properly for (them),” the commission noted.

On Tuesday, Parliament approved a 5 percent salary increase for President Jacob Zuma, bringing his annual package to about R2.48 million.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe is to be paid out the presidential pension due to him since he made way for President Jacob Zuma in May 2009, but will “repay” the salary he has earned as Zuma’s deputy.

In effect, he will receive only the difference between what he has earned as deputy president and the higher amount due as his presidential pension. But he will not be earning a salary and receiving a pension.

The commission recently recommended an increase of 5 percent for all public office-bearers. This has been approved by Zuma.

The recommendations also come amid revelations about questionable spending by several politicians.

Recent examples include:

* International Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite Nkoane-Mashabane’s spending nearly R240 000 to charter a jet in Norway after she missed her scheduled flight because she refused to have her handbag X-rayed by airport security.

* Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Sicelo Shiceka’s blowing R370 000 on a trip to Switzerland to visit his girlfriend, who was in jail on drug-related charges, and R280 000 on a short stay at the exclusive One&Only hotel in Cape Town.

* Public Works Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde’s approving the purchase of 17 ministerial homes for Zuma’s expanded cabinet at a cost of R183m to the taxpayer.

* Communications Minister Roy Padayachie’s racking up a car rental bill of R1.2m when he was deputy minister of public administration.

A common theme in these cases is that the spending was said to be within the limits set by the Ministerial Handbook. The handbook contains detailed regulations on the tools of trade applicable for senior politicians.

The commission noted this fact, but suggested that this argument “challenges the appropriateness of those guidelines in the first place”.

Following a public outcry in 2009 over similar splurges, the government undertook to review the handbook – a process that was to have been completed by June last year.

In April, 10 months later, Minister of Public Service and Administration Richard Baloyi said the new handbook would be published “soon, very soon”.

Baloyi said on Tuesday “we have started the process” of reviewing the handbook. But he said the job could not be completed until the commission had made its recommendations on tools of trade. He would meet the commission “soon” to discuss how its recommendations should be incorporated into the handbook.

Commission secretariat chief Peter Makapan said:

“The minister sent a draft of the revised handbook to the commission to get our input. The handbook was discussed at our last meeting on Saturday. When the cabinet reviews the handbook, it will have to consider our recommendations.”

The commission has made only broad recommendations. The details of what ministers may spend on houses, cars, official entertainment, office equipment, travel, staff and other tools of trade will again be left to the cabinet it seems.

Nevertheless, the commission’s recommendations contain a golden thread urging greater transparency and accountability by politicians.

Recently, members of the executive, citing “security” concerns, have refused to answer MPs’ questions about travel and subsistence expenses.

Significantly, the commission singled out “travelling facilities”, saying they should be managed in “the most cost-effective manner”. - Political Bureau

Travelgate informer wins round in court

Parliment could face a R1-million legal bill after losing the latest round in a running battle with its former chief financial officer, Harry Charlton.

On Friday the Supreme Court of Appeal set aside a Labour Appeals Court order that granted parliament permission to exempt Charlton, the Travelgate whistle-blower, from the Protected Disclosures' Act when it fired him in 2006.

John McRobert, Charlton's legal representative, said the court ruling meant the matter would now go to the labour court for a hearing on the merits of his client's dismissal.

"Our view has always been that parliament is trying to delay," McRobert said.

"Thankfully he's prevailed now, and with costs, so we can go to court and ventilate the whole matter on the merits."

Charlton's victory means that parliament will now have to pay the full costs of the appeal process, including the fees of senior counsel.

A source close to the legal process, who asked not to be named, said parliament faced a legal bill of at least R1-million.

Secretary to parliament Zingile Dingani on Friday declined to comment, saying he was not aware of the court ruling.

"You are the first person to call me about this. I've not heard anything about it, not even my legal people have told me about it so I have no comment to make."

Charlton was dismissed for "work-related misconduct", but he insisted that he had been sacked for blowing the whistle on the abuse of parliament's travel scheme by MPs which involved more than R16-million.

He challenged his axing, arguing it was unfair because the information he provided was covered by the Protected Disclosures' Act.

But parliament argued that MPs were neither employees nor employers in terms of the act.

The Labour Court dismissed parliament's application for exception, but the case went to the Labour Appeals Court which upheld the exception application.

Charlton then challenged this ruling in the Supreme Court of Appeals. - timelive

Minister’s handbag incident costs taxpayers extra

The contents of International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane's handbag are not up for discussion, her spokesman said on Friday.

“I can't believe you are asking that,” Clayson Monyela said when asked why she recently refused to have her handbag scanned at an airport in Norway.

“It's not an issue we want to debate... She was strong and defended her principle, and we have moved on from there.”

Monyela said the Vienna Convention exempted diplomats from luggage searches at airports, and the minister - as the country's top diplomat - was right to stand her ground.

“At every airport, no diplomats are searched. This is why she refused.”

The minister's handbag drama in Norway cost South African taxpayers more than R200,000.

Nkoana-Mashabane, who was on a state visit to that country earlier this month, refused to have her bag passed through an X-ray scanner at an airport in Oslo, the Mail & Guardian reported.

As a result, she missed her scheduled commercial flight to her next diplomatic engagement in Bulgaria. A private-charter executive jet, which cost R235,343, was then hired to transport her.

It was unclear what she was carrying in her handbag and why she was keen to avoid security screening.

The Democratic Alliance and the Freedom Front Plus expressed outrage over the incident.

DA spokeswoman Lindiwe Mazibuko said Nkoana-Mashabane should pay back the money out of her own pocket.

“Yet again, ordinary South Africans have had to foot the bill for the vanity and excesses of those who are meant to be public servants.

“Government ministers should be subject to the same security regulations as every other airline passenger, and there should be no provision that allows members of the executive to bill the public for their superiority complexes.”

The DA also wanted her to reimburse her department for the cost of the flight she missed, as it resulted in her missing the meeting in Bulgaria.

“It is time for members of our government to understand that they are not more important than the citizens they serve,” Mazibuko said in a statement.

“The handbag incident underscores just how out of touch this government is with the economic realities of the majority of South Africans.”

FFPlus spokesman Corné Mulder said the minister could have handled the situation differently.

“It is absurd that South Africa has to waste money because the minister insisted on her right to diplomatic immunity,” he said in a statement.

“She could have seen to it that her political counterpart in Oslo was contacted immediately to resolve the situation.”

She should have allowed her handbag through the scanner so as to not miss her flight, said Mulder.

He asked why the South African embassy in Oslo had not made prior arrangements to prevent the “embarrassing and expensive” situation. - Sapa

So it begins: Hotel secrecy for safety of ministers: Manyi

Ministers could not answer questions about their use of hotels as such detail could be used to “ambush” them, government spokesman Jimmy Manyi said on Thursday.

“It is indeed a security issue and it would be quite frankly irresponsible for ministers to put in on (a) website,” Manyi told a regular post-Cabinet briefing in Cape Town.

“It would be a serious, serious breach of security.”

He said Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe had at Wednesday's Cabinet meeting reiterated a call to ministers to answer written parliamentary questions timeously.

The media asked why ministers were citing security reasons for declining to respond to questions from the opposition aimed at establishing how taxpayers' money was spent on travel and accommodation.

Water and Environment Affairs Minister Edna Molewa and State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele recently did so in response to questions from the Democratic Alliance.

Last year, the defence ministry declined to give details of President Jacob Zuma's local and international flights since he took office, stating that this could put his life at risk.

Manyi said even if the information being requested was old, it could still be of use to criminals planning to attack members of the executive, and could therefore not be made public.

“The issue here is that where two years ago, up to the same date, the minister keeps going to the same place, they are mapping out a clear roadmap for what criminals should do, because we are saying here is the predictable situation,” he said.

“So if you want to do an ambush why don't you target this place? This is the context.”

Manyi said on such questions the minister would provide the information to Motlanthe's office, who could then share it privately with the MP who asked the question.

“If certain of the questions pose a security risk, ministers will go and tell the leader of government business what those are, so that opposition members can go to the leader of government business and check that out,” Manyi said.

“So in that way the question is answered in a way that does not compromise security.”

He dismissed a journalist's suggestion that if criminals were planning to attack ministers, they would more likely do so between their easily identifiable offices and official residences.

“They are forever out there in their constituencies. They are criss-crossing the country. They are never in their homes,” Manyi said.

DA MP David Maynier, who put the questions to Molewa and Cwele and planned to ask the same information from other ministers, said he had not been told he could obtain the answers from Motlanthe's office.

He dismissed Manyi's arguments on security.

“I see no reason why a retrospective answer giving the names of hotels, the duration and the cost of the stay would endanger the ministers.

“I see it as an attempt to cover up the 1/8Higher Education Minister 3/8 Blade Nzimande syndrome of ministers staying in luxury hotels at great expense to the taxpayer.”

It was revealed last year that Nzimande spent 15 nights in the Mount Nelson in Cape Town, one of the most luxurious hotels in the country.

- Sapa

Parliament writes off Travelgate losses

Parliament has decided to write off the 12 million rand in outstanding debt owed to it by MPs who were implicated in the “Travelgate” scandal.

A letter from National Assembly speaker Max Sisulu to Democratic Alliance MP Ian Davidson also said that no further action would be taken against politicians implicated as the records of the travel agency used, Bathong Travel, were destroyed.

“As the debt was not recoverable and still on Parliament's books, it resulted in an audit query. Taking into consideration both these factors (the query and the fact that there were no records), the administration advised the presiding officers to write off the debts. In the light of this it is not possible to recover monies from members,” Sisulu's letter said.

Only six out of 79 of the MPs implicated in the scandal have been criminally prosecuted and, according to Sisulu, the remaining 73 would not be charged.

“I trust that this settles the matter”, concluded Sisulu in his letter.

However, Davidson said it did not and that if the matter were left as it were, then it would reinforce the perception that public-office bearers could steal from the people of SA with impunity.

“We cannot endorse a mass bail-out of Members of Parliament (MPs) whose conduct was both illegal and morally reprehensible,” Davidson said.

Davidson said he would write to Ben Turok, Ethics Committee chairperson, and request that, in light of the list of Travelgate MPs being made public, that he fully investigate all who have failed to pay back the money owed to Parliament.

“The action taken by the Ethics Committee against Yolanda Botha last week should be the rule, not the exception. MPs that have defrauded and undermined the integrity of Parliament must be investigated and brought to book,” he said.

The list of MPs implicated in the Travelgate scandal included a number of high-ranking African National Congress members, including State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele, whose wife has been found guilty of drug smuggling. - I-Net Bridge

Taxpayers to pay Travelgate debt

Taxpayers will fork out millions of rands to pay off debts racked up by MPs in the Travelgate scandal.

Despite numerous undertakings to act against MPs over the years since the scandal broke, Parliament has failed to recover about R12.2 million owed by its members after the institution controversially purchased the debtors’ book from the liquidators of Bathong Travel in 2009.

Bathong was one of six travel agencies implicated in the infamous and unresolved travel voucher scandal.

Information released this week has revealed that when the Bathong debts were purchased for R380 000 MPs still owed about R5.4m, of which the liquidators had managed to recover only R413 303 – or 7.6 percent – from 19 of the 89 MPs on the agency’s books.

More recent information has shown that this amount eventually rose to about R17m as more “debts” were uncovered, leaving Parliament in the red to the tune of about R12.2m. This debt will now be written off, Secretary to Parliament Zingile Dingani told journalists in Cape Town this week, which leaves taxpayers to foot the bill.

Parliament buried this information until Eastern Cape High Court Judge Sytze Alkema ordered its release on July 28, when the Centre for Social Accountability, an NGO from Rhodes University, successfully challenged Parliament’s refusal to provide the information via the Promotion of Access to Information Act.

Judge Alkema had harsh words for Parliament, saying it was clear throughout the process that it was more concerned with its public image – and those of its members – than with getting to the truth or collecting the outstanding debts.

“The above entries (from parliamentary minutes) indicate a strong desire, for reasons not known but giving rise to wide speculation, on the part of Parliament to prevent those claims from being pursued. It was particularly anxious to protect those claims from public scrutiny in a court of law,” the judge said.

“Parliament was acutely aware of the public interest in the matter … It went to some lengths to prevent the publication of information contained in the schedules (the list of 89) in order to protect it against adverse public opinion – even purchasing the claims. But public opinion is not the same as public interest. Public interest is at stake when the structure of institutional democracy is threatened by a culture of ‘secretive and unresponsive’ government,” Judge Alkema concluded.

- IOL

Hawks reveal Arms deal bombshell

The Hawks have taken the first step towards re-opening the multibillion-rand arms deal probe - which could expose those who took bribes to prosecution.

The head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations, Anwar Dramat, wrote to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on Wednesday informing it of the Hawks' intention to speak to European investigators to establish whether or not criminal charges should be brought against any South Africans.

The Hawks controversially dropped the probe into the arms deal in September last year, arguing that prospects of successful prosecutions were slim.

In a letter to Scopa chairman Themba Godi, Dramat says the Hawks are following up on last month's admission by Swedish defence group Saab that its former British partner, BAE Systems, paid R24-million in bribes to secure a South African contract for 26 JAS Gripen fighter jets. All told, BAE systems spent R1-billion on what it called "commissions" in the arms deal.

Dramat writes : "I have already instructed two officials ... to approach the relevant authorities in both Sweden (National Anti-Corruption Unit) and the UK (Serious Fraud Office). Subject to approval by these authorities, (we) will assess the available information with a view to determine whether there is information which points to crime/s in South Africa ... whether it could be converted into relevant evidence by means of formal mutual legal assistance processes. It is also important to determine from the mentioned authorities what their investigations have revealed and whether the information obtained by them can be shared with the (Hawks)."

He could not predict how long the investigation might take.

Godi confirmed receiving Dramat's letter, saying: "It's a brave and correct decision ... unless justice is being done and is seen as being done on this matter, it's going to continue to cast a cold shadow over the political landscape of the country."

DA spokesman on defence David Maynier welcomed the development, saying: "The Hawks have effectively re-opened the investigation into the arms deal."

Despite several attempts, the Presidency yesterday failed to comment on the development.

Investigations by the UK Serious Fraud Office into BAE's dealings revealed that the arms manufacturer's R1-billion in "commissions" in the South African deal dated back to 1992.

They claimed that among the beneficiaries was FTNSA Consulting, a company linked to former First National Bank chairman Basil Hersov.

Businessman Fana Hlongwane, a one-time adviser of former minister of defence Joe Modise, allegedly received handsome "commissions" amounting to millions from BAE. Hlongwane also worked as a consultant for the arms manufacturer.

News of the Hawks' move came as a court battle continued in the High Court in Pretoria over the financial dealings of prominent South Africans - including some connected to the arms deal - via Ansbacher Bank.

The Sunday Times can reveal that senior ANC national executive committee member and former spy boss Billy Masetlha met former FirstRand CEO Paul Harris in 2009 to try to broker an out-of-court settlement in a 10-year-old case involving FirstRand and the International Tax Law Institute (ITLI).

ITLI founder, international tax guru Barry Spitz, wants FirstRand to open Ansbacher's books on about 500 of its prestigious clients, including Hersov. If this happens, South Africa could find out how much and whether senior ANC leaders received payments related to the arms deal.

The meeting, facilitated by former Denel CEO John Lamola, was held at the Saxon Hotel in Johannesburg in May 2009, a few weeks after President Jacob Zuma was sworn into office.

Masetlha confirmed that he had held meetings with both parties in the dispute, but claimed he was acting as a "concerned citizen", not on the ANC's behalf. He said the case could have economic implications for the country.

"Both sides were interested in my intervention to say ... what should they do in order to avoid a fallout which might ... in our interest as a country ... create a hell of a lot of problems for all of us.

"I am not scared of the arms deal. That dirty linen is neither here nor there. I must say now, as a member of the ANC NEC, that I am not scared of anything on that thing because we are going to shock you in terms of how we are going to deal with it,"

said Masetlha, without elaborating. However, he did note that the party wanted to avoid having the matter reach court.

Spitz contradicted Masetlha, saying the ITLI had drafted the proposed settlement "with the approval of the ANC", and the ruling party had requested the settlement be kept confidential.

"This was requested by the ANC, which obviously has its reasons for wanting it," he said.

Spitz added that the information sought from FirstRand was of interest to a "vast number of other persons and agencies ... political, financial and corporate, both in South Africa and abroad".

The Sunday Times has seen the proposed settlement document, which Masetlha signed in his capacity as "political head of the ANC Policy Institute".

In it, Masetlha undertook to "personally ensure the destruction of all the confidential information held by the ITLI and/or its privy parties ... and will further, to the extent possible, ensure that no confidential information is retained in any location open to the public, but not under their control".

But Harris, in a letter to Lamola, rejected this proposal, saying: "This is a very complex case and any involvement of outside parties other than our lawyers is not the proper process."

FirstRand spokesman Sam Moss confirmed the meeting between Harris and Masetlha.

- Tmeslive

Alootin Continuously

Affairs Minister Sicelo Shiceka spent hundreds of thousands of rands of taxpayers money on luxury hotels, first class airtickets and on visiting a jailed girlfriend in Switzerland since taking up his Cabinet post in 2008, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.

"Minister Shiceka has abused taxpayers money to lead a lifestyle befitting a multimillionaire," reported the newspaper, which claimed to be in possession of "official documents" that showed Shiceka had started his spending spree immediately after being appointed to the Cabinet in September 2008.

The accusations include Shiceka, who has been on sick leave since the beginning of March, and his personal assistant flying first class to visit his girlfriend in prison in Switzerland.

The minister also allegedly spent R32 000 on hiring a chauffeur-driven limo to take him to the prison.

The newspaper said Shiceka and his staff spent R640 000 in one year to stay at Cape Town's five star hotel, the One&Only, of which R280 000 was spent "on him alone".

The minister spent another R55 793 for a one night stay at the luxurious hotel during President Jacob Zuma's first State of the Nation speech. He reportedly justified taking a sangoma with him by saying the man was his "father figure".

Invoices 'fabricated'
More than R160 000 was spent in eight months on flying 10 of Shiceka's family members -- including his estranged wife and current girlfriend -- around the country at taxpayers' expense.

The Sunday Times said Shiceka tried to have his department pay for a four night R357 120 hotel bill for himself, his mother and his bodyguard at the Lesotho Sun in Maseru.

Shiceka told the Sunday Times that he had never been in a limousine or stayed at the Lesotho Sun.

He claimed that all documentary proof presented to him, including invoices, emails and faxes had been doctored or fabricated.

"I have never been in a limousine. I have never stayed in the Lesotho Sun," Shiceka said.

He did however, admit to spending more than R55 000 for one night at the One&Only.

"What is wrong with that," he asked.

"Every other hotel was full."

He also justified putting up his "father figure" at the One&Only.

"The ministerial handbook allows it," he said.