Presidency Denies Zuma Prefers Chartered Aircrafts
PRETORIA – The Presidency has refuted media reports that President Zuma and his Deputy favour a jet set lifestyle, reiterating that they prefer to use aircraft within the South African Air Force (SAAF) fleet. The Presidency on Wednesday said allegations made by aviation experts in the media that President Jacob Zuma prefers chartered aircrafts are not true. “The […]
PRETORIA – The Presidency has refuted media reports that President Zuma and his Deputy favour a jet set lifestyle, reiterating that they prefer to use aircraft within the South African Air Force (SAAF) fleet.
The Presidency on Wednesday said allegations made by aviation experts in the media that President Jacob Zuma prefers chartered aircrafts are not true.
“The President and Deputy President utilise aircraft provided by the SAAF. Currently both the President and Deputy President have been transported in chartered aircraft locally and abroad due to non-availability of reliable aircraft within the SAAF fleet,” said the Presidency.
The Presidency said it agrees with the experts that the use of smaller aircraft for local travel and the general use of the SAAF fleet would be more cost effective for government, as opposed to hiring aircraft.
Earlier this year a fabricated story did the rounds on social media, claiming that President Jacob Zuma would get a luxury jet, the most expensively kitted-out one in the world, a Boeing 747-8 (as pictured above) with all the trimmings.
Opposition part, the Democratic Alliance (DA), said earlier today that it will seek a legal opinion from Parliament’s legal services to determine whether Defence Minister, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, is justified to block replies to parliamentary questions relating to the President’s VVIP travel under the cloak of it being a matter of National Security.
Kobus Marais, Shadow Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, said: “The DA believes that this is nothing more than a desperate attempt to prevent the public from knowing just how much the President is wasting on luxurious travel.
“The DA will also be submitting further parliamentary questions following the Minister’s revelation that Inkwazi would be replaced within the next 18 months. We will inquire as to whether the proposed R300 million budget includes the retrofitting of the plane’s cabin.”
Marais said: “President Zuma continues to put himself ahead of ordinary South Africans and remains committed to self-enrichment and the capture of state assets for his personal benefit. Parliament has an obligation to get to the bottom of this, and we will not rest until it does so.”
– SAnews.gov.za
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