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Industry insiders have told the Democratic Alliance (DA) that the R150-million private jet which the police minister admitted his department bought last year, will have cost at least another R13-million in operating costs, even if it has been used no more than once a week since it was bought. This figure is based on the total cost per kilometer for a Cessna Citation Sovereign private jet, factoring in total maintenance, operating, staffing and insurance costs, assuming that the plane has been used for one round trip between Johannesburg and Cape Town every week since its purchase. It should be noted that the minister indicated that the plane is used frequently in South Africa, and that it is also used to fly to other destinations on the continent - two factors that would serve to push up total costs considerably. The total cost of a roundtrip between Cape Town and Johannesburg, would amount to R37,500 per person, assuming that an average of four SAPS officials were aboard each flight. This is more than five times greater than the cost of a business class ticket on SAA, between the same two cities (which costs R6,700 per person). Of course, that excludes the initial purchase cost. Factored in, the total cost per person for each round trip would be closer to R463,000 - which is 70 times greater than a return business class ticket. The fact of the matter is that between the SA Airforce and regular commercial flights, the Police Ministry has plenty of choices available to them. There is no excuse for such gross indulgence from the police ministry's top brass, at a time when the police does not even have the resources to answer more than one quarter of 10111 emergency calls, and many police stations go without vehicles and proper equipment.