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The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the news that the Public Protector, Advocate Thuli Madonsela, has agreed to conduct a preliminary investigation into the attempted acquisition of a Boeing 777-200 Long Range aircraft for President Jacob Zuma and a Global Express 6000 aircraft for Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe.

In a letter dated 04 July 2012, Advocate Thuli Madonsela states that:

“I have considered the request and decided to conduct a preliminary investigation into the allegations with a view to establish whether there is a need for me to conduct a full investigation as envisaged in the Public Protector Act.”

This follows a request for an investigation into what appears to be a very dodgy process to purchase transcontinental VIP aircraft, including a Boeing 777-200 LR and Global Express 6000, which would have cost more than R2 billion.

The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has done the right thing and cancelled the acquisition process.

However, there are still a number of unanswered questions, including:
Whether the former Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Lindiwe Sisulu, did in fact advise that the deal be suspended;
why, given the fact that the decision to purchase the aircraft had been taken at least eighteen months previously, it was necessary to deviate from normal competitive procurement processes;
whether the necessary authority to deviate from normal tender procedures was received from the National Treasury and/or Department of Defence;
why Armscor, the defence department’s principle defence material acquisition agency, which specializes in meeting the defence department’s acquisition needs effectively, efficiently and economically, did not lead the acquisition process;
why frontline operators, who would actually fly the aircraft, in the South African Air Force’s Squadron 21 (VIP Squadron), appear to have been excluded from the acquisition process; and
most importantly, why Parliament was kept in the dark and neither the Joint Standing Committee on Defence nor the Portfolio Committee on Defence were briefed on the deal.
The Public Protector has agreed to provide me with feedback on the outcome of the investigation as soon as possible and we must now await the outcome of the preliminary investigation.

We cannot have a situation where the defence department becomes involved in dodgy backdoor acquisition deals which are hidden from Parliament.

Also, it is simply wrong to waste billions of rands on new VIP aircraft when so many people in our country are poor. President Jacob Zuma has a perfectly adequate existing aircraft which is in mint condition and we should make do with what we have.