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Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula
PHOTO: Daan Vivier, Netwerk24
- SANDF has defended the use of an air force jet by an ANC delegation that traveled to Harare.
- They said Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula was on official duty and allowed her ANC colleagues to travel.
- The party sent a delegation to Harare, led by Secretary General Ace Magashule, to talk.
The South African National Defense Force (SANDF) said Thursday that Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula traveled to Zimbabwe for official work and brought her ANC colleagues.
This, after the party was accused of abusing state resources by using a government-sponsored plane to conduct party business. He used a South African Air Force plane to fly to Harare to meet with Zanu-PF, where they agreed that there was no “crisis” ravaging Zimbabwe, but that the country faced “challenges.”
In an interview with the SABC, the party’s general secretary, Ace Magashule, who led the delegation, denied that it was an abuse of power.
On Thursday, defense spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini said the ANC meeting coincided with the official work of 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.
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Dlamini said allowing an ANC delegation to travel together with the minister had never happened before.
“The ANC delegation was going to deal with issues that are having a direct impact on South Africa. This is not a common thing and has never happened before,” he said.
ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe referred the questions to Dakota Legoete, who was not available for comment.
The delegation left Waterkloof Air Force Base Tuesday night in ZS-NAN, an air force aircraft assigned to VIP.
They spent the day in meetings at the Zanu-PF headquarters in Harare and returned on Wednesday night.
The delegation included Magashule, Mapisa-Nqakula, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu, Nomvula Mokonyane, Enoch Godongwana, Tony Yengeni, and Legoete.
They met with a six-member team from the Zanu-PF, led by its secretary general, Obert Mpofu.
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Joint statement from the general secretaries of ANC and ZANU PF after a day of meeting behind closed doors. September 9, 2020
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– ZANU PF #SanctionsMustFall (@ZANUPF_Official) September 9, 2020
After the meeting, Mpofu denied that there was a crisis in Zimbabwe and blamed false information on social media.
“The fugitives are responsible for the distribution of false information. There is no crisis in Zimbabwe,” he told a news conference on Wednesday night.
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Mpofu said it was an “unrestricted meeting between comrades and friends.”
Magashule said they agreed that there were “challenges” in Zimbabwe that needed to be faced.
The parties agreed to convene and meet regularly to discuss issues of mutual interest.
“As liberation movements, we must respect human rights. We respect freedom of association and freedom of expression,” Magashule said.
Magashule added that the ANC would meet again with other stakeholders.
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