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Defense Minister, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
Phill Magakoe, Gallo Images
- The district attorney expressed his displeasure after an ANC delegation used an air force plane to Zimbabwe.
- The ANC has been accused of abusing state resources to conduct partisan business.
- Defense spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini said the ANC meeting coincided with the official work of Mapisa-Nqakula.
The district attorney has asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to clarify why a delegation led by the ANC was able to fly to Zimbabwe, to meet with ZANU-PF party officials, using a South African National Defense Force air force aircraft. (SANDF).
News24 reported that the ANC has been accused of abusing state resources because it used a government-sponsored plane to conduct party business.
The ANC was seen arriving in Harare on a South African air force plane for a planned meeting with Zanu-PF.
At the meeting, it was agreed that there was no “crisis” ravaging Zimbabwe, but that the country faced “challenges”.
In an interview with SABC, ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule, who led the delegation, denied that it was an abuse of power.
Official job
On Thursday, Defense Ministry spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini said that the ANC meeting coincided with the official work of Minister of Defense and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
“The ANC meeting in Zimbabwe coincided with the meeting of the Minister of Defense and Military Veterans, who was traveling to Zimbabwe to meet with her counterpart in preparation for a meeting of the SADC Troika and the reconfiguration of the Intervention Force of the UN, which comprises troops from the SADC region, “he said.
The DA said that it not only asks Ramaphosa to clarify what it calls “blatant corruption” of the ANC, but also asks the ANC to immediately return the money that the SANDF spent on transporting the party delegation to Zimbabwe.
READ | SANDF says the defense minister went to Harare for official duties and gave his ANC colleagues a push
“The district attorney is absolutely disgusted by the ANC’s blatant abuse of the state machine, its deliberate blurring of state and party lines, and the fact that the South African taxpayer had to sponsor this meeting between the two political parties.
“Given the enormous budgetary constraints of SANDF, this theft of scarce resources compromises the integrity and security of South Africa.
“President Ramaphosa endlessly wanders about corruption and mismanagement, yet continues to turn a blind eye to his own party’s utter disregard for the rule of law and separation of powers,” said DA MP Kobus Marais .
Marais added that a line must be drawn in the sand when it comes to the “brutal and relentless abuse of government resources” by the ANC.
“You cannot continue milking the state in pursuit of the ANC’s political ends,” he added.
