Zuma’s VVIP jet queried

The Department of Defence’s plans to spend millions on a jet for the country’s “No 1” have met with little enthusiasm, but experts say that spending on planes with military airlift capacity is a different matter and concur with the defence minister that many of the country’s military’s planes are “antiques”.

Weekend Argus reported yesterday that Defence Minister Nosiviwe-Mapisa Nqakula had announced her department would buy a new VVIP (very very important person) jet, and focus on building strategic airlift capacity, which was sorely lacking. While the budget for the VVIP jet has not been announced, speculation is that it will come from the R4.6 billion in the department’s “secret” account.

Last year, it scrapped plans to buy a new VVIP jet at a price tag of R2bn.

On Friday, Mapisa-Nqakula said buying new aircraft was a matter of urgency since her department was spending millions on chartering flights for VIPs and for airlifting because South Africa had unsuitable or outdated planes.

Yesterday, defence analyst Helmoed Heitman agreed, describing some of the government’s planes as “antiques”. He said because there were no planes with long range and heavy airlift capacity, military equipment had to be transported in pieces and re-assembled on the other side, and troops flew in chartered planes.

The defence force’s VIP squadron 21 operates four planes: the presidential jet, bought in 2002; a Falcon 900 in 1991; and two Falcon 50s in 1982 and 1985, refurbished in 2005.

South Africa’s Hercules carriers date back to 1962 and 1963.

Heitman said South Africa had erred in buying the R600 million Boeing Business Jet, now named Inkwazi, as the presidential jet in 2002, as it was too small and its range was too short.

DA spokesman on defence David Maynier disagreed: “The defence operating budget has been cut to the bone and you would think scarce resources would be directed to the needs of the defence force, rather than (those) of the president.”

South African National Defence Union spokesman Pikkie Greeff also said spending should focus on “military capacity more than VVIP jets. We need to spend more on logistics and troop transport, unless the president will allow the defence force to use his VVIP jet the next time we need to extract soldiers from an operation”.

Greeff said that while he welcomed the minister’s “candid admissions” about the lack of airlift capacity, the issue had only really became problematic after the recent troubles experienced in the Central African Republic (CAR).

Heitman said troops deployed to the CAR had travelled there on chartered flights, and chartered flights had been used to extract some of them.

“Our air transport capacity is way below what we need to do the required work,” he said.

Heitman cited as an example the South African Search and Rescue Organisation, which effects “maritime and aeronautical searches” from half way between South America and South Africa, to half way between South Africa and Australia, and the South Pole. The SANDF is one of the government departments involved, but cannot “begin to cover” the area with its planes.

- IOL

SA to splash out on new jet for Zuma

Cape Town - The defence force is back in the market for
purchasing presidential jets as well as planes that will give
the military its own airlift capacity.
Previous plans to buy a R2 billion presidential jet and
Airbuses were scuppered amid widespread controversy and
public outrage.
But now the Defence Ministry is determined to buy the
planes as a matter of urgency.

The department has been allocated money by the Treasury and intends splashing out on the new aircraft as soon
as possible, according to Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
Addressing a breakfast at the Cape Town Press Club at the Castle of Good Hope yesterday, Mapisa-Nqakula said
the Department of Defence was spending millions of rand each week chartering aircraft, because many of its planes
were so old they belonged in museums.

The minister said the department was looking to buy VVIP jets as well as strategic airlifting capability planes as
soon as possible.
“We’re running out of time.”
VVIP refers to “very, very important people” and includes the president, the deputy president, former presidents and
the minister and deputy ministers of defence.

“Every week without fail, we pay millions of rand chartering aircraft for strategic airlift capability, which far exceeds
the money we would have spent by purchasing,” Mapisa-Nqakula said.
“If you look at some of our aircraft, they’re 60 to 62 years old and should be museum pieces and we use them to
ferry our people around,” she continued. “I won’t elaborate on some of the experiences I’ve had and what I’ve seen
happening, but this process (to buy aircraft) must begin.”

In 2009, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe had to make an emergency landing in the DRC after problems with
his jet. In 2011, an aircraft in which Motlanthe was due to travel encountered problems before take-off from the
Waterkloof Air Force Base. And in December, a SANDF Dakota crashed in the Drakensberg, killing 11 people.
The minister said: “We don’t know what happened there but that plane was over 60 year old and as far as I’m
concerned, no human being should be flying in it.”

She said the Treasury had allocated money for buying the VVIP jets. She would issue directives for the purchase,
after which the chief of the SANDF would have to implement it, while complying with the Public Finance
Management Act.

Mapisa-Nqakula was part of a delegation led by President Jacob Zuma which has just returned from Russia.
Following the visit, Russian President Vladimir Putin said South Africa was in talks with Russia about buying
passenger jets.

Putin had revealed that these were MS-21 jets. However, they are reportedly going into production only in 2017,
and, except for a planned top-end version that is nowhere near production, all the models are mid-range – 5
000km or less – which would make them less than suitable for South Africa’s purposes.

In 2005, South Africa committed to buying eight Airbus A400M planes, intended to enhance the defence force’s
airlift capacity and reduce its heavy reliance on ageing chartered Russian cargo planes to transport troops and
equipment. The deal was cancelled in 2009 after concerns about its affordability.
In December 2010, in the wake of a series of embarrassments around VIP jet charters, the cabinet approved the
medium-term acquisition of four VVIP aircraft.

Last year, shortly after she became defence minister, Mapisa-Nqakula cancelled plans to purchase a “super-bling”
presidential jet, a R2 billion Boeing 777-200LR. A deposit had been paid for the aircraft, but after seeking legal
opinion, it was determined that the offer to purchase the jet had lapsed.

At the time she said she was looking into a lease contract to act as a stop-gap while they went through a tender
process to procure the VVIP jets. The ministry’s about-turn followed a refusal by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan
to condone a deviation from normal procurement processes.
Saturday Star