South Africa Ambassador to Netherlands Linked to Waterkloof Gupta Landing Recalled, Then Quits

South Africa’s ambassador to the Netherlands, Bruce Koloane, has resigned after being recalled from his posting, an action taken after he gave evidence to the state capture inquiry about his involvement in the landing of a Gupta family wedding plane at the Waterkloof Air Force Base in 2013.

The minister of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor, said today, in response to a question from the Democratic Alliance in parliament, “I have decided that it would be in the public interest to transfer ambassador Koloane to the head office in Pretoria.

“A letter to this effect was sent to him on 12 August. He has one month notice to return to the country and should be back in the country by mid September.

“Subsequently, he tendered his resignation from the department.”

Testifying before the state capture inquiry in July, Koloane admitted that as chief of state protocol in 2013 he had abused his powers to facilitate the landing at Waterkloof of a plane carrying guests for a Gupta wedding at Sun City, News24 reported.