‘Joemat-­Pettersson flew back to help with Zuma’s wedding’

Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat­ Pettersson claims she flew back to South Africa urgently – at a R400,000 cost to the taxpayer – to help out with President Jacob Zuma’s wedding.

This is revealed in Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s final report into ­Joemat-Pettersson’s controversial business class flight with her two children and their au pair from Sweden to South Africa on January 1 2010.

Titled Costly Moves, Madonsela’s ­report, which was released this week, ­reveals Joemat-Pettersson and her former chief of staff, Bafedile Bopape, initially would not tell investigators why she had to return from Sweden urgently at the end of 2009.

She was there on business with her children and planned a holiday afterwards, when she was called back.

Flights for herself and two officials cost R250 000. 

The flights for her children and their au pair cost R151 000.

All Joemat-Pettersson initially said was that she had been urgently ­summoned home by “an authorised ­official in the office of the presidency”.

During her interview with ­Madonsela’s office, Joemat-Pettersson admitted meeting Zuma on January 2 – the day after her return – at the Melrose Arch Hotel in Johannesburg.

Madonsela said no evidence of any emergency or crisis that warranted the minister’s early return was obtained or presented during the investigation. 

But Madonsela noted that investigators in her office started asking more questions after they realised January 2 was a Saturday and Zuma married ­Tobeka Madiba at his Nkandla home just two days later.

They questioned Joemat-Pettersson again and she said the “circumstances” now warranted a more detailed response than her original, “without wishing to breach the relationship of trust with the presidency”.

Then she spilled the beans. She told investigators her early return related mainly to the fact that she was needed to assist dignitaries and VIP guests “with regard to the importation of prescribed goods that they required during their stay in South Africa at the time”.

“I was under pressure to expedite that matter,” she told Madonsela’s team.

Joemat-Pettersson didn’t explicitly say these guests were attending Zuma’s wedding, but Madonsela explains in the report why she and her team believe the wedding was the reason for the minister’s urgent return.

Joemat-Pettersson was asked during questioning why she had not pointed out to the presidency how expensive the emergency flights would be.

She told investigators that speculation about whether Zuma would have agreed to postpone her return to after his wedding if he knew the costs was ­“entirely unfounded”.

“It was not for me to question his order in this regard,” Joemat-Pettersson is quoted in the report as saying.

Joemat-Pettersson this week blamed the more than R151 000 spent on her children and au pair’s flights on Bopape.

The minister told Madonsela she was advised by Bopape that the correct procedure in having the return tickets for her children approved had been followed. 

“I would have purchased new return tickets for all three if I was correctly advised by Bopape that the state was not supposed to pay as per the Ministerial Handbook,” Joemat-Pettersson said.

“My children, their nanny and I have unlimited travel benefits at any time and place to any place worldwide which is paid for from the estate of my late ­husband.”

In the initial report that was leaked to the media, Bopape was ordered to pay the R151 000, but in the final report the burden was passed to the minister. 

Bopape, who is now working in the ­agriculture director-general’s office, ­declined to comment.

Madonsela said on Monday that Zuma should consider reprimanding Joemat-Pettersson for violating the executive ethics code.

Joemat-Pettersson’s spokesperson this week referred City Press to the ­report when asked to comment. 

The presidency did not respond to ­requests for comment.

- City Press

Tina I-Fly-Twice Joemat Pettersson vervloek Madonsela's se ma se

Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson on Tuesday rejected claims that she wasted taxpayers' money, following findings by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.

"The perception by the media that the minister was extravagant is rejected with the contempt it deserves," the ministry's spokeswoman Palesa Mokomele said in a statement.

Madonsela on Monday said President Jacob Zuma should consider reprimanding Joemat-Pettersson for violating the executive ethics code.

In her findings she said the department's acting director general should recover about R150,000 the minister incurred for return flights for her two children and their au pair from Sweden to South Africa in January 2010.

The ministry welcomed Madonsela's recommendation of remedial action. Mokomele said the ministry would develop an implementation plan and submit it to the Public Protector within the stipulated time frame.

The minister travelled to Sweden on official business in December 2009. The trip was combined with a family holiday, which started on December 23, at the end of her official trip.

However, Joemat-Pettersson had to cut the holiday short when the presidency recalled her. She returned on January 1, 2010.

Mokomele said the minister had paid for the original tickets and accommodation for her children and their au pair, but did not cover the costs of the changes to the tickets.

She said Joemat-Pettersson would have purchased new return tickets for all three if she had been correctly advised.

The Protector found the minister's former chief of staff, Bafedile Bopape, wrongfully advised her regarding the return flights.

"Bopape provided minister Joemat-Pettersson with incorrect advice in respect of the department’s responsibility to pay for the return air tickets of the minister’s children and au pair when she was recalled from Sweden in January 2010," Madonsela said.

It was also investigated whether Joemat-Pettersson used public funds to pay for expensive accommodation at hotels while she was awaiting the allocation of her official residences in Cape Town and Pretoria.

Joemat-Pettersson stayed at the 28A On Oxford Guest House from June 13 to July 11, 2010, for R420,000, and at the Peermont D'Oreale Grande Hotel at a cost of R289,352.

Joemat-Pettersson had not been allocated an official residence at the time.

"She (Joemat-Pettersson) stayed in a reasonably priced guesthouse in Pretoria for six months, which she vacated due to circumstances beyond her control," Mokomele said.

"The minister spent significant time, money and personal effort to relieve the burden that her lack of accommodation was placing on the state."

Madonsela recommended that Public Works fast-track the refurbishment of Joemat-Pettersson's official residence in Cape Town. She said the minister had been severely affected by the delay in providing accommodation.

The Protector was scathing of Bopape for the way she handled the minister's travel and accommodation expenses.

"In respect of her failure to provide minister Joemat-Pettersson with correct advice pertaining to the provisions of the Ministerial Handbook... which resulted in fruitless and wasteful expenditure for the department," she said.

- timelive

Madonsela finds Tina guilty of violating ethics code

Public protector Thuli Madonsela has found that Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson violated the executive ethics code.

President Jacob Zuma should consider reprimanding Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson for violating the executive ethics code, public protector Thuli Madonsela said on Monday.

Madonsela said the department's acting director general should recover about R150 000 Joemat-Pettersson unlawfully incurred for return flights of her two children and their au pair from Sweden to South Africa in January 2010.

The minister travelled to Sweden in December 2009 on official business, where she held meetings on matters relevant to her portfolio.

The trip was combined with a family holiday, which started at the end of the official trip on December 23. Joemat-Pettersson, however, had to cut the holiday short when she was recalled by the presidency and returned on January 1 2010.

"The return trips of the minister's children and au pair were paid for by the state in violation of the provisions of paragraph 3.4 of chapter 6 of the Ministerial Handbook, in the amount of R151 878," Madonsela found in her report.

The public protector also investigated whether the minister used public funds in occupying expensive accommodation at hotels while she was awaiting the allocation of her official residences in Cape Town and Pretoria. Expenses Joemat-Pettersson incurred include, among others, a month's stay at the Vineyard Hotel and Spa in Cape Town during June and July 2009 at a cost of R134 735, a five-week stay at the Peermont D'Oreal Grande Emperor's Palace in Johannesburg between September 16 and October 21 2009 at a total cost of R289 352 and a month spent at the Pure Toys One CC in Johannesburg during the 2010 Fifa World Cup at a cost of R420 000.

Last year, President Jacob Zuma was forced to fire Sicelo Shiceka, the late minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, after Madonsela found him to have acted unlawfully, of being dishonest with public money and in contravention of the Cabinet's executive ethics code as well as the Constitution. 

– Sapa

Sisulu speaking with forked tongue

 THE Democratic Alliance has cast more doubt on former defence minister Lindiwe Sisulu over her alleged abuse of the defence force's VIP jets during her tenure, by charging that she was now contradicting herself.

This comes just a day after Sisulu did some damage control and chastised her predecessor Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula for her "misleading" information which suggested Sisulu made 203 flights on the defence force's ultra-luxury Gulf-stream Jets. For 69 of these flights she was allegedly not even on board.

The flights, between Pretoria and Cape Town, are said to have cost more than R200000 each .

On Saturday, Sisulu, who is now public service minister, denied this as "false and misleading". She claimed that she only made 35 official trips on the aircraft, which is operated by the SA Reserve Force Squadron.

Her spokesman Ndivuwo Mabaya said Sisulu had written to Mapisa-Nqakula, requesting that the parliamentary reply which revealed this information be withdrawn and corrected. He said the information submitted "misled Parliament and the nation".

He said there must be some confusion as it was almost impossible for anyone to make so many trips.

"It means you are sleeping in the plane," he said.

But DA spokesman on defence David Maynier threw another gauntlet at Sisulu, pointing to aprevious parliamentary reply which contradicts this.

In her response, Sisulu said between 2009 and 2012 she undertook 79 flights, said Maynier.

"The minister is clearly trying to use what amounts to a political smoke grenade to obscure the truth ..."

- Sowetan

Lindiwe Sisulu's fancy flights pure indulgence

The South African Air Force thought nothing of ferrying the minister around at enormous cost to the taxpayer.

The South African Air Force splurged up to R68 000 an hour to fly the former minister of defence and military veterans, Lindiwe Sisulu, regularly on ultra-luxury Gulfstream jets during the past three years.

Before Sisulu became minister of public service and administration in June this year, the South African Air Force was chartering Gulfstream jets like taxis for her, frequently ferrying her for up-country trips and back to Cape Town on the same day, according to an inside military source.

Last week Sisulu was found to have taken a significant number of flights on chartered jets, but her spokesperson has blamed the R40-million she notched up on trips from 2009 to 2012 on decisions taken by the South African National Defence Force.

Many of the flights were domestic trips. If she had flown business class on South African Airways, a return trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town would have cost the government R4 899 at current prices. However, the Mail & Guardian has been reliably informed that a return flight from Lanseria outside Johannesburg (where many of the charter companies are stationed) via the Waterkloof Air Force Base on the outskirts of Pretoria to Ysterplaat in Cape Town on a Gulfstream jet cost the air force more than R200 000, which does not include the cost of the pilot and crew, food and landing costs.

The ministerial hand­book for members of the executive and presiding officers states that members of the executive may use military aircraft for official use under exceptional circumstances only, but clearly this has not been regulated.

The Reserve Squadron 111 handles VIP and IP (important people) guests and reconnaissance flights. It came under fire from the auditor general in the 2011-2012 financial year for irregular expenditure of R160-million arising from the "sourcing of aircraft".

Veil of secrecy

The chartering of Gulfstream and other executive jets by the air force's reserve squadron is hidden behind a veil of secrecy, the M&G has found.

One of the companies that has been regularly used is the Lanseria-based corporate jet service Zenith Air, the M&G was told, but others are used as well. There appear to be about 14 companies in South Africa that lease out Gulfstream jets.

Zenith's sole director, Craig Gnesin, who is a pilot, would not discuss any business he had done with the air force, although he admitted that it had used Zenith Air's planes in the past. "I don't have to answer these questions. It is an in-house South African Air Force matter."

His father, businessman Ray­mond Gnesin, was more forthcoming. He said Zenith Air's Gulfstream jets, one of which has the bling registration ZS-VIP, are held in a family trust.

"The family trust owns the aircraft and leases them to Zenith, which runs a charter operation," said Gnesin Sr. "Anybody can charter the jets and they will all pay the same rates. There is nothing dubious about it. We are strictly in the charter business."

The company did not offer discount rates, he said.

"Zenith will fly coffins for funerals and we will take you wherever you want. As long as everything is above board and kosher, the charter company is up for it."

Zenith Air's Gulfstream jets can take between 11 and 12 passengers and boast ultra-soft leather sets and galley kitchens. Gnesin Snr said he had bought the jets second-hand in the United States.

Gulfstream jets

The company quotes its fees in dollars, which amount to R68 000 a flying hour "all in", which includes the pilot and other costs.

Last week Sisulu was accused by Democratic Alliance MP David Maynier of spending R40-million on her VIP flights over three years, many of which were on Gulfstream jets. Maynier said the major concern was that millions of rands appeared to have been wasted on hundreds of empty VIP "ferry" flights.

Maynier found that 203 flights were requested for Sisulu on the Gulfstream jets, but 69 of them were "ferry" flights to fetch her and take her to a destination. "This is a staggering waste of public funds when so many people in our country are poor," said Maynier. "Thankfully, the minister's wings have been clipped and she finds herself grounded … condemned to chicken or beef, on SAA, for the remainder of her term."

Asked by the M&G why she had not travelled on SAA, especially because many of her flights were domestic, Sisulu's spokesperson, Ndivhuwo Mabaya, said she had no say over which planes she used and it was the air force that made the decisions.

"The South African National Defence Force insisted that, for all SANDF duties, their minister must be transported by their pilots," he said. "And the pilots came with a plane, which they choose, not the minister. It was not a decision taken by Minister Sisulu but by the SANDF, and for many years before the minister was appointed."

Constituency work

For her ANC work, Sisulu opted for SAA, said Mabaya. "Actually Minister Sisulu flew SAA for much of her ANC and constituency work."

Mabaya said Sisulu was not aware of the cost implications of her jet travel, because all the decisions regarding it were made by the defence force.

"It is still there today; it is a policy of the SANDF," said Mabaya. "I can conclude that, due to the age of the planes, they had to hire a lot [of other aircraft] to meet their own obligations and commitments."

Defence force spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini said it should be noted that the defence minister was just one of the VIPs the air force was mandated to transport.

"I am not aware of any board of inquiry, as mentioned in your query," said Dlamini.

"However, I am aware of an exercise looking into the costing model of the reserve force aircraft.

"Lastly, any requirement by the South African Air Force is processed within and through national treasury regulations," Dlamini said.

According to air force information recently disclosed to Parliament, since April 1 this year no Gulfstream jets had been used by the air force.

It would appear that seat belts are now being tightened.

- M&G

Jacob Zuma defends Nkandla splurge

President Jacob Zuma on Thursday defended multi-million-dollar renovations at his personal residence saying he paid for the bulk of the work, while the government paid for security upgrades.

"We are a very big family... (so) we decided to extend our homestead. At the same time government was wanting to put its own measures, security measures," Zuma said.
He did not give a breakdown of how much he had paid for the upgrades at the thatched-roof compound in Nkandla in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, which are reported to include a helipad, underground bunkers, fencing, and a clinic.

Local media say the works will cost taxpayers up to R238 million ($27 million).

The splurge in the verdant hills of Zuma's political stronghold has sparked an uproar amid an economic crunch in a country where 10 million people live on social grants and many have only tin shacks for home.

"When people see my house on the TV, they must be thinking that government has built this for me. No. A large part of that... has been done by the family," Zuma said.

The City Press newspaper claimed Zuma had paid for only five percent of the total cost. (from The New Age)

Jacob Zuma does not own the land on which his Nkandla compound is built – and Public Works is now doing a deal to take up the lease, potentially for as little as R1000 a year.

This means that not only will the Zuma compound be bankrolled by the taxpayer to the tune of R203m, but so will the land on which it stands.

The compound – which, City Press revealed, is being upgraded with a R203m investment by the department of Public Works – is on communal land owned by the Ingonyama Trust and is about 24km south of Nkandla town centre in northern KwaZulu-Natal.

The trust is headed by King Goodwill Zwelithini and manages about 32% of all land in the province on behalf of the state for the benefit of its occupants.

The disclosure also challenges the justification of spending on the property by Public Works in the face of a public outcry over the splurge. The department cited the Ministerial Handbook’s rules allowing spending on the president’s “private” residence (from Media24)

In 2009 R65 million was spend on Nkandla taking it from this to this. (from the M&G)

In the end the public will have spent R268 million for the benefit of just one man: Agent 783

Public protector to probe R2.6 Mill Sports flights

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela is to investigate allegations of wasteful spending of R2.6 million on flights by Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula and his deputy Gert Oosthuizen, according to reports.

The Star newspaper reported today that in a written reply to a parliamentary question from the Democratic Alliance, Mbalula said he had taken 240 flights, including 16 international flights, since April 1 2010, costing R1,539,196, according to the newspaper.

In the same period, Oosthuizen had spent R1.1 million on 105 flights, including 29 international flights.

This was 186 more flights than both the international relations minister and two deputy international relations ministers took combined, for the same period.

After Madonsela received a request to investigate the expenditure from DA sports spokesman Winston Rabotapi in March, the public protector announced in July that the allegations warranted an investigation.

Madonsela has since assigned an investigator to the case, and the preliminary investigations had begun, Madonsela's spokeswoman Kgalalelo Masibi told the newspaper.

- Timeslive

Sleepless in the 777

Zuma’s bling Boeing to cost R2bn

The Secretary of Defence, Dr Sam Makhudu Gulube, is in the US on a two-week trip to finalise the purchase of a mega-bling VIP Jet for President Jacob Zuma.

The jet will cost the taxpayer $235 million (nearly R2 billion) if it goes ahead.

The 300-seater Boeing 777-200LR earmarked as “ZA1” will cost $80m to reconfigure to Zuma’s specifications on top of a $150m purchase price, Independent Newspapers has learned.

Also included in the deal is a $28m Global Express 600 for the deputy president’s use, bringing the total bill for the VVIP transports to $183m (over R2.2bn).

Though negotiated on the basis of cabinet approval, Independent Newspapers has information that the deal has failed to follow normal requirements that such procurements be put out to competitive tender.

“It’s simply wrong to spend nearly R2bn on President Zuma’s new Boeing 777-200 LR business jet when so many people in our country are poor,” DA defence spokesman David Maynier said.

“I hope delegates at the ANC’s national policy conference ask President Zuma to explain how a R2bn presidential business jet will help our country tackle the triple challenge of unemployment, poverty and inequality?”

Negotiated directly with Boeing, according to evidence in Independent Newspapers’ possession, the Zuma Jet was secured at a price, before reconfiguration, of $155m – knocked down from $305m.

Originally destined for another buyer, the 777 apparently became available when that deal fell through.

But, after the South African shoppers – with ministerial policy adviser and political commentator Professor Sipho Seepe serving as go-between – missed an earlier deadline for a “definitive agreement” to be signed and sealed by May 30, the temperature went up.

New deadlines were set for the middle of June, with Boeing negotiators J Miguel Santos and Carlos Horan threatening to pull the plug if the South Africans did not make concrete commitments.

Seepe confirmed he had acted as a “middleman” between the ministry and Boeing on cabinet directives in respect of the aircraft.

It remains unclear whether or not the Treasury was approached to invoke special powers to override the competitive tender specification on the basis of urgency.

Also unclear is what budgets would be called on to plug a shortfall of $183m identified by former defence minister Lindiwe Sisulu.

This was after Sisulu, in May, indicated that the Department of Defence could find the $80m required to reconfigure and refurbish the earmarked Zuma plane.

She was also of the opinion that the Department of Defence could cover the hefty operational costs for the two planes if it reprioritised budgets and expenditures.

One solution Sisulu proposed at the time was that refunds received from European manufacturer Airbus after the summary cancellation of its orders for the Airbus A400 M be returned from the fiscus to the Department of Defence to fund the VVIP transports.

The Treasury, however, has remained tight-lipped on whether or not authorisation was given to the rerouting of government funds as suggested by the Defence Ministry.

Another deviation from normal practice mooted in the Defence Ministry’s apparent haste to push the contracts through was to acquire the planes via SAA – as opposed to the South African Air Force, the authority mandated for VVIP air travel.

Such a procedure would be possible, Independent Newspapers has learned, under Treasury regulations – which allow for other organs of state to be used for procurement.

However, such procedures do not obviate the overriding requirement for a competitive tender process. Approached for comment, Finance Ministry spokesman Jabulani Sikhakhane confirmed: “National Treasury was consulted, as is normal with matters of this nature.”

However, Treasury was not in a position to disclose its specific recommendations, Sikhakhane said.

The government’s planned spending spree comes at a time when earlier blunders and misadventures around VIP air transports could cost the country billions in months and years to come.

Nigerian-owned Adonai Aviation – awarded a five-year lease contract to the value of R826m in 2010, which was subsequently summarily cancelled – continues to be in litigation with the Department of Defence, demanding a review of the cancellation of its contract.

If successful, the review would open the door to multibillion-rand damages claims.

The current presidential jet, Inkwazi, was returned to service at the beginning of this year, after being out of service for most of last year for routine upgrades and maintenance. The Boeing 777 is the world’s largest twin-engined aircraft, and has the longest range of any aircraft in commercial use.

Department of Defence spokes-man Siphiwe Dlamini said there was a new minister at the helm, who was still being briefed: “These briefings are to allow the minister to familiarise herself with issues that need to be attended by her department. Once these are concluded we will be able to engage. The briefings started a week ago and had to be postponed as she had to attend the ruling party’s policy conference, which ends Friday (today).”

- Pretoria News

‘It’s a staggering sum of money’

Cape Town - Flying President Jacob Zuma and his deputy to their various engagements since they assumed office has cost taxpayers more than R210-million, former defence minister Lindiwe Sisulu has revealed.

In written responses to two Parliamentary questions, tabled on Wednesday, she said Zuma and Kgalema Motlanthe had used a total of 499 South African Air Force flights.

These included aircraft operated by the SAAF's 21 (VIP) Squadron and its reserve squadron, as well as flights chartered by the SAAF.

Of the 499 flights, Zuma used 286, at a total cost of R140,515,430; Motlanthe used 213, at a total cost of R69,746,680..

Sisulu, who on Tuesday was shifted by Zuma from defence to take over as public service and administration minister, said the figures were for the period from and including the 2009/10 financial year, up to mid-May this year.

According to her replies, a total of 53 of the 499 flights were chartered for the two men by the SAAF.

The Democratic Alliance said the figures contained in Sisulu's replies, and in her written replies to other questions dealing with VIP flights, also tabled on Wednesday, were “staggering”.

They further revealed that former president Thabo Mbeki had undertaken 39 flights, at a cost of R32,130,037, DA defence spokesperson David Maynier said in a statement.

“However, most shocking of all was that the minister (Sisulu) herself undertook 268 flights at a cost of R40,581,878.”

Of these 268 flights, 188 were on aircraft operated by the SAAF. A total of 79 flights were on aircraft operated by the SAAF reserve squadron, and one flight was chartered.

“The minister apparently regularly made use of a luxury Gulfstream executive jet operated by the SAAF reserve squadron. She blew an average of R151,424 on each flight, most of which must have been domestic flights.”

Maynier said Sisulu “seems to have completely abused her privilege to use military aircraft for official purposes”.

It was entirely possible that the figures provided did not reflect the total cost of providing VIP flights.

“I will, therefore, be submitting follow-up questions to the newly-appointed Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, probing what aircraft were used and what the breakdown of expenditure was for each of the flights undertaken by President Jacob Zuma, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and the minister.

“We have to get to the bottom of what is really going on in the VIP transport section of the SAAF,” Maynier said. - Sapa

Zuma, Motlanthe rack up R210m in flights

Flying Jacob Zuma and Kgalema Motlanthe to their various engagements has cost taxpayers more than R210-million since they assumed office.

In written responses to two parliamentary questions, tabled on Wednesday, former defence minister Lindiwe Sisulu revealed that Zuma and Motlanthe had used a total of 499 South African Air Force flights.

These included aircraft operated by the SAAF’s 21 (VIP) Squadron and its Reserve Squadron, as well as flights chartered by the SAAF.

Of the 499 flights, Zuma used 286, at a total cost of R140 515 430.15; Motlanthe used 213, at a total cost of R69 746 680.47.

Sisulu, who on Tuesday was shifted by Zuma from defence to take over as public service and administration minister, said the figures were for the period 2009/10 to date.

According to the replies, a total of 53 flights were chartered for the two men by the SAAF. - Sapa

DA - Time to Clip Frequent Flyer Lindiwe Sisulu's Wings

The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Lindiwe Sisulu, has once again refused to reply to a Parliamentary question on her use of military, chartered and commercial flights.

The question was as follows:

(a) how many (i) international flights and (ii) domestic flights were undertaken by (aa) her and (bb) her deputy minister using (aaa) military aircraft, (bbb) chartered aircraft or (ccc) commercial aircraft during the period 1 April 2009 up to the latest specified date for which information is available, (b) what class did she and her deputy minister travel in each case and (c) what amount did her department spend with regard to each specified flight?

The Minister is required to provide a comprehensive reply to the question but instead she deliberately fudged the reply.

The reply was as follows:

"As a matter of principle, I travel commercial on international trips, I do not use chartered aircraft and travel on the South African Air force Aircraft (SAAF) on official business only. The amounts required will be forwarded to the Honourable member once they have been accessed from the travel agency."

The Minister clearly has no intention of providing Parliament with any information in respect to her flights on military aircraft or aircraft chartered by the military.

This is not the first time the Minister has dodged replying to a question probing her flights details. She deliberately fudged a reply to a similar question in 2011.

The Minister has a reputation for being a frequent flyer on South African Air Force aircraft.

According to my information, for example, she used military aircraft for 16 flights in a single month last year for domestic travel in South Africa. During that month the Minister used military aircraft, such as the Dassault Falcon 50 Business Jet, but also used aircraft charted by the military, such as Gulfstream Business Jet. What is most shocking is that 8 of these flights were "ferry flights" with no passengers on board the aircraft.

The Minster is clearly trying to hide the excessive number of flights and the massive cost of her flights.

We cannot allow the Minister to ride roughshod over Parliament and refuse to provide comprehensive replies to Parliamentary questions.

The DA's Chief Whip, Watty Watson, will therefore write to the Speaker, Max Sisulu, requesting him to compel the Minister to reply to the Parliamentary question on the Minister's use of military, chartered and commercial flights.

It's time to clip the Minister's wings. 

- allAfrica

Sisulu digs in on flight costs

Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has again refused to divulge the costs involved in sending extra aircraft to “shadow” President Jacob Zuma’s presidential jet to New York in January.

In a written reply to a parliamentary question from DA MP David Maynier – which came 15 days after it was due – Sisulu simply referred the opposition MP to a media statement issued by the Defence Department on February 20.

That statement failed to provide details about the costs involved.

Instead, it said information about flight schedules for the “president and other principles” was “confidential” due to “safety considerations” and that the information “cannot be in the public domain”.

“That is not good enough. It leaves several important questions unanswered… The minister has a track record of attempting to hide information by avoiding parliamentary questions or by providing non-replies to questions,” Maynier said on Thursday.

He undertook to follow the matter up with National Assembly Speaker Max Sisulu.

Earlier this month Sisulu prevented SA Air Force chief General Carlo Gagiano from briefing Parliament’s joint standing committee on defence on the state of the air force, saying the information he was to provide “might be classified”.

Defence Ministry spokesman Ndivhuwo Mabaya told the Cape Argus yesterday that he had “no further additions” to the parliamentary response given by his minister.

Asked whether he could provide details about the costs of the shadow operations, Mabaya said members of the media “should use Paia (the Promotion of Access to Information Act)” if they wanted the information.

After initial media reports in January suggested that a single plane had shadowed Zuma’s Boeing BBJ to New York on January 10, the Cape Argus revealed that in fact two planes had been used during the back-up operation. After initial denials, Mabaya admitted this was so. - Political Bureau

disabled Flying Minister of women & children

Hogarth does not suffer fools lightly and is compulsive reading for the millions of South Africans who share this intolerance.

Maybe Pravin would like to come along this time?

WHAT do you do when a minister takes eight ministers and deputies and a host of government officials on a sightseeing tour of New York at taxpayers' expense?

In the case of the Minister of Women, Children and the Disabled, Lulu Xingwana, you give her R10-million to travel the world in the next financial year.

Xingwana's neat travel bonus was among the less publicised allocations in Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's budget.

If the New York junket - exposed on the pages of this newspaper for the sham that it was - is anything to go by, the R10-million will be spent on business-class tickets and stays at the Ritz Hotel for R5000 a night.

All in the interests of helping women, children and the disabled, of course.

And he stole the thunder

TALKING of Gordhan, he invited three of his colleagues to join him for the pre-budget speech media briefing to explain some of their own initiatives in more detail.

But Transport Minister Sbu Ndebele, who was there to explain the new Gauteng freeway toll fee structure, had his thunder stolen.

Gordhan read a prepared statement on Gauteng freeway toll prices while a bemused Ndebele could only look on in frustration.

Gordhan was taking his toll.

Manyi spins a web

WHILE Gordhan did his best to sugar-coat the bitter toll pill, government spokesman Jimmy Manyi was not as subtle.

"This is not just a bad dream, it's reality; it's going to happen. No one should have any illusions whatsoever that this thing is going to go away. It's a fact of life, and it's going to happen," he said.

Hogarth is hoping to one day wake up from the bad dream of having Jimmy Manyi as cabinet spokesman...

- Timeslive

‘We don’t owe anyone answers’ for our O3 addiction

‘We do not have to explain to anyone the decisions we take. We do not need to call a community meeting about this and we don’t owe anyone answers.”

This was the defiant message issued by the Defence Ministry on Monday in a scathing attack on critics of the multimillion-rand chartering of “shadow” aircraft for President Jacob Zuma’s flight to a UN Security Council meeting earlier this month.

The attack comes after the ministry initially tried to deny the chartering of the aircraft, and follows a barrage of criticism over the hiring of a Global Express aircraft to shadow the presidential plane, Inkwazi, and the use of an SAA Airbus A340 in the saga.

According to aviation sources it can cost up to $15 000 (R120 000) an hour to charter a Global Express, with a flight to New York taking up to 18 hours.

The criticism comes hours after Zuma flew to Qatar on Monday – this time, according to the SAAF, without shadow aircraft. It is not known why back-up aircraft were not needed to shadow Zuma’s plane on this trip.

The saga comes months after the resignation of then-defence secretary Mpumi Mpofu and the attempted resignation by air force chief Lieutenant-General Carlo Gagiano over embarrassing incidents and close shaves involving the SAAF’s ageing VIP aircraft.

These incidents include the use of convicted South African mercenary Niel Steyl as the pilot on an aircraft chartered to fly Zuma to a UN General Assembly meeting last year.

In one incident involving the SAAF’s VIP fleet, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe had to abandon a leg of his state visit to Nordic countries last year because of technical difficulties with aircraft.

While the air force and the ministry were quick on Monday to silence critics, aviation insiders say the chartering of the aircraft in South Africa was unnecessary and could have been done more cheaply.

A well-placed source, with inside information on the chartering of the aircraft, said if it had been necessary to charter an aircraft to fly Zuma around in the US, this could have been done more cheaply from the US.

“It would literally take one phone call to hire a plane and it would have been more cost-effective. Besides, if there was a problem in the air, what were those shadowing the president going to do? A mid-air transfer?” the source said.

“This is a total waste of money and there is something far more underhanded here. A lot more questions need to be asked.”

Defending the chartering, Defence Ministerial spokesman Ndivhuwo Mabya lashed out at critics.

In an interview with Sapa, he said the ministry did not need to “justify” itself to anyone.

“The funfair about the president’s plane must come to an end,” he said.

Asked to explain his statement, Mabya said a lot had been said during an hour of discussions, “and just to take three lines is not on”.

“Everyone knows this is not free, but those in the air force have to make difficult decisions,” Mabya said.

“Decisions are taken by the air force chief. He is a three-star general and makes very sober decisions, which must be respected.

“We do not have to explain to anyone the decisions which we take. We do not need to call a community meeting about this and we don’t owe anyone answers.”

Asked if he didn’t think the country’s taxpayers were owed an explanation, Mabya said there were accounting structures the ministry followed involving the submission of quarterly and annual reports.

Asked why he had initially denied the chartering, and confronted with audio recordings of New York’s JFK Air Traffic Control towers communication with the aircraft, Mabya said there was no way of authenticating the recordings.

“How do you know they haven’t been edited? How do you know it is not fake?” Mabya asked.

SAAF spokeswoman Brigadier-General Marthie Visser said the Inkwazi had been out of use for three months for servicing.

“Despite rigorously testing the aircraft after it returned from service, the decision was taken to charter aircraft to shadow the Inkwazi. This was done with safety in mind and the importance of the obligations that Zuma had to meet.

“The air force had to ensure that the president was in the US on time and that he was back the very next day for scheduled commitments here,” she said.

Asked why the SAAF’s other VIP aircraft, two Falcon 550s and a Falcon 900, had not been used and whether they were serviceable, Visser said they had been required for other government officials. - Pretoria News