[ad_1]
Minister of Defense and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula. (Photo: Flickr / GCIS / Kopano Tlape)
Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula also told President Ramaphosa that, “in retrospect, it would have been prudent to inform his office in writing of my intention to transport ANC members … to meet our counterparts from Zanu PF.”
Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has billed the ANC R105,545.46 for the transportation she gave party members on an SA Air Force (SAAF) flight to Harare to meet with Governor Zanu- PF of Zimbabwe on September 8.
The minister attached her bill to the ANC to a file that she gave to President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Public Protector to explain the controversial flight.
He said the total cost of the flight had been R232,200. Apart from her, ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule and nine other ANC leaders, the SAAF Falcon 900 aircraft was carrying two defense forces officers and four flight crews.
Although Ramaphosa had approved the Mapisa-Nqakula flight to Harare to meet with her Zimbabwean counterpart to discuss regional security issues, Ramaphosa formally reprimanded her for “an error in judgment” in taking the ANC delegation to travel to Harare to meet. with Zanu-PF officials. in party business.
Previously, Ramaphosa had announced that he would reduce his ministerial salary for three months starting on November 1. His salary would go to the Covid-19 Solidarity Fund. On Wednesday, Ramaphosa, for the sake of “transparency”, publicly disclosed Mapisa-Nqakula’s correspondence with him, as well as his correspondence with the public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, who is also investigating Mapisa-Nqakula for the flight.
This was after Mkhwebane received complaints from MP Vuyolwethu Zungula, chair of the African Transformation Movement, Hurter Spies of AfriForum, and Freedom Front Plus MP Pieter Groenewald, alleging that Mapisa-Nqakula had been guilty of mismanagement because he had used a jet SAAF for political-partisan business.
Mkhwebane told the defense minister in a letter that the three complainants had demanded proof that Mapisa-Nqakula had actually met with his Zimbabwean counterpart Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri on the visit. They also demanded to know the purpose of the meeting.
In his presentation to the Public Protector, who copied Ramaphosa, Mapisa-Nqakula provided correspondence with Muchinguri-Kashiri in which he requested the meeting to discuss regional security issues, including the Islamist insurgency in northern Mozambique and the UN plans to change the regional Force. Intervention brigade operating in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She also attached a letter from the Zimbabwean defense minister accepting the meeting and the agenda.
Mapisa-Nqakula also provided correspondence to show that Ramaphosa had approved his trip to Harare to meet his counterpart. In her letter to Ramaphosa, she said that she had agreed to take the ANC delegation with her as there were no scheduled flights available due to the Covid-19 shutdown and because the visit was urgent.
She acknowledged that, “in hindsight, it would have been prudent to inform your office in writing of my intention to transport members of the ANC, of the delegation of which I was a part, to meet our counterparts from Zanu PF.”
He explained that he had thought at the time that he did not need to do so because, although the Executive Members Guide prohibits the use of SAAF aircraft for political party engagements, such aircraft can be used if the members in question also conduct important official business before. or after the political commitments of the party.
He explained to Ramaphosa that he had had a “short courtesy briefing” with Muchinguri-Kashiri upon his arrival at Harare airport on the night of September 8 and that he had then interrupted the meeting between the ANC and Zanu-PF, which had lasted for 10 a. 7:00 p.m. M. The next day, to meet his counterpart from 16:30 to 19:00 h.
Mapisa-Nqakula also attached a “self-quarantine certificate” that she received from the Health Department on September 13, four days after her return from Harare. He instructed her to self-quarantine at an address in Bruma Lake, Johannesburg.
In his presentation to Ramaphosa and the Public Protector, he said the total cost of the Falcon 900 flight was R232,200, calculated at R62,000 per flight hour for a return flight of 2.7 hours plus R24,000 per flight hour. for fuel.
In addition to the flight, she said the visit had cost the Ministry of Defense 33,280 rand, comprising a total of 21,664 rand for one night for herself and her two staff members at the Meikles hotel, 5,782 rand for their combined daily allowances and R5,834. for the rental of two vehicles.
The plan for the trip in their file confirms that the delegation originally intended to spend two nights in Harare, which would have given them time to meet with the political opposition and civil society on the second day. At the time, a member of the delegation had said that the meeting with Zanu-PF on 9 September had taken longer than expected, so they ran out of time to meet with others.
But the two-night itinerary suggests that Zanu-PF prevented them from meeting with anyone else, as President Emmerson Mnangagwa had prevented the three Ramaphosa special envoys from meeting with the opposition or anyone else after they met him on the 10th. of August.
On the other hand, the ANC delegation could have interrupted their visit when a controversy arose over the use of a SAAF plane to take them to Harare. DM
