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.
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