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President Cyril Ramaphosa.
- The district attorney says President Cyril Ramaphosa must be held accountable for the SAAF flight that brought ANC officials to Zimbabwe.
- This, after it emerged that the presidency only approved the trip of Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula the day after her return, while the Ministerial Manual required a notice of at least two weeks.
- According to the Prosecutor’s Office, it was illegal for the minister to be outside the country without presidential approval.
The district attorney turned his attention to the role of President Cyril Ramaphosa in the controversial South African Air Force flight in which Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula “transported” ANC officials to Zimbabwe.
News24 reported Thursday that the presidency only approved the flight on September 10, a day after Mapisa-Nqakula and Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu, along with ANC officials Ace Magashule, Nomvula Mokonyane, Enoch Godongwana, Tony Yengeni and Dakota Lekgoete, will return from Harare. .
Furthermore, Mapisa-Nqakula only requested presidential approval on September 7, the day before his departure. The Ministerial Manual required approval to be requested at least two weeks prior to departure.
READ | ANC slapped with a bill of R105,000 for Zim’s trip
This was revealed in the documents that Ramaphosa ordered Mapisa-Nqakula to provide about the journey. The presidency released these documents on Wednesday, as testimony to Ramaphosa’s “commitment to transparency.”
These documents also revealed that Mapisa-Nqakula asked his Zimbabwean counterpart for a meeting on September 7. That same day, he received a positive response and submitted the request for presidential approval.
Furthermore, Mapisa-Nqakula’s approval for self-quarantine was not granted until September 13.
Discrepancies
DA deputy and defense spokesman Kobus Marais also highlighted other discrepancies.
“According to Section 80 (3) of the Defense Act, the Minister can only authorize the use of military aircraft for anyone other than an employee of the State after consulting with the Minister of Finance,” Marais said in a release.
“Nowhere in his two reports to the president did the defense minister even mention the finance minister, Tito Mboweni. Not only the minister and the ANC delegation have violated the Covid-19 shutdown regulation by not obtaining permission to travel of the Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, she also violated the law “.
He added: “Minister Mapisa-Nqakula also stepped down, as the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, was also appointed as Acting Minister of Defense and Military Veterans after the fact.”
“There is still no indication whether the ANC delegation obtained permission from the Minister of Transport to travel to Zimbabwe under the level 2 lockdown regulations.
According to Marais, the fact that presidential approval for the trip was only granted after Mapisa-Nqakula’s return, “means that Mapisa-Nqakula and his entourage left the country illegally without the approval of the president and in violation of the Executive Code of Ethics. that governs the Executive. trip “.
READ | SANDF says the defense minister went to Harare for official duties and gave his ANC colleagues a push
“The district attorney will present this information as supplementary evidence in our complaint against the minister before the Ethics Committee of Parliament,” he said.
“In addition, and perhaps more astonishing is the fact that the President accepted an illegality because he gave the go-ahead to a trip that had already been made without his permission.”
Case to answer
He said this meant that not only the ANC has a case to answer for, so does Ramaphosa.
“As Minister Mapisa-Nqakula must be held accountable for her crimes, the president must also be held accountable for his action in this matter,” Marais said.
“Very recently he has expressed outrage at corrupt officials who stole state coffers for a time that left South Africans particularly vulnerable. By sanctioning this illegal travel after the fact, his own action has shown how hypocritical that outrage was, nothing more than performance art.
“The president had the perfect opportunity to take a firm stance against corruption by firing Mapisa-Nqakula. He squandered that opportunity and put his stamp of approval on it instead.”
On Saturday, in a statement late at night, the presidency announced that Ramaphosa sanctioned Mapisa-Nqakula by reducing his salary for three months.
He also instructed her to ensure that the ANC reimbursed the state for travel expenses.
According to Mapisa-Nqakula’s calculations, the ANC should pay R105 545.46. The party had previously indicated that it would reimburse the state.
