Ramaphosa’s use of Gupta jet slammed

Deputy president under fire over use of hired plane for Japan trip

DEPUTY President Cyril Ramaphosa and a delegation flew to Japan in a Gupta family jet at a cost of millions of rands. Besides the cost, questions are being raised as to why a jet owned by a company of which President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane is a director was used to transport VIPs.

Yesterday, the Department of Defence, which hired the plane, could not say how much the flight cost. Spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini said this would be disclosed only next year in the department’s budget.

“The SA Air Force leases when an aircraft is unsuitable for the trip to be undertaken or when the aircraft is due for service or is in service. Such leasing is done through a central contract managed by the government through the national Treasury RTC-61 contract,” he said.

Ramaphosa’s Japan trip ended on Tuesday. It is believed the presidential plane will soon be heading to China, and that there are not enough pilots.

“This [flight to Japan] is very strange and it poses the question, even though it was hired through Execujet, why specifically the Gupta family’s jet,” DA defence spokesman Kobus Marais said.

Marais said there were other air force aircraft that could have been used, including the presidential jet. Another alternative was to do what some other heads of states, like the British prime minister, did and use the national carrier.

“If the national carrier is good enough for us, it is good enough for them,” Marais said.

EFF spokesman Lehlohonolo Mokoena said they would ask questions in parliament “seeking clarity on whether proper procurement processes were followed in granting the contract to a company owned by the friends of the president and his son”.

“We call on state institutions to investigate as a matter of urgency the hold that the Gupta family has over President Zuma‚ which allows them to treat our country and its coffers the way they do,” Mokoena said.

Zuma’s close relationship with the Gupta family from India was heavily criticised in April 2013 when a plane chartered by the Guptas carrying 270 wedding guests was allowed to land at Waterkloof Air Force Base.

A government investigation exonerated Zuma and his cabinet, and blamed the landing on “collusion” by officials. Only one was sanctioned. According to the SA Airways website, the cheapest business-class return ticket from Johannesburg to Tokyo costs just under R42 000.

Aviation experts and a jet hire company website estimate that the Bombardier Global Express 6000 fight would have cost in excess of R5-million, with the cost of hiring the plane usually starting at about R9 000 an hour. Political analyst Daniel Silke said Ramaphosa had done his cause no favours by entangling himself with the Gupta family.

“This is a poor public relations issue for the deputy president. There is enough scepticism in South Africa around the perceived favour to the Gupta family of business deals. Perhaps Mr Ramaphosa or his close aides did not consider the knock-on effect of using this particular aircraft.

“I can only describe this matter as foolhardy considering past controversies involving the Guptas,” Silke said.

The Gupta family said they were not involved directly in the leasing of the plane to the government delegation.

“Execujet has an agreement with Westdawn to charter the aircraft on a commercial basis when not in use by ourselves . . . We are not involved in any of Execujet’s arrangements with any other third party and have no knowledge on the detail of any of said third-party arrangements,” the family’s spokesman, Gary Naidoo, said.

Defence analyst Helmoed Heitman said it was common for air forces to hire planes to ferry high-level government officials.

He said the Department of Defence had had a long relationship with Execujet.

The ideal situation, he said, would be for the SANDF to buy more planes that could be used in multiple roles, including flying VIPs. In April, there was an outcry when the government announced plans to buy three new jets for VIPS, at a cost of R2-billion.

-Mandy Wiener, Shaun Smillie and Olebogeng Molatlhwa