Mbeki's jet: Taxpayers foot R13,5-million bill

South African taxpayers have paid about R13,5-million during the first six months for the presidential jet, Inkwazi's operational costs so that the country's leaders can arrive at their destinations timeously and effortlessly, the Afrikaans Naweek Beeld newspaper reports. In this period Inkwazi undertook 32 flights - 17 domestic and 15 overseas. In one instance, on a return flight between Waterkloof and Heathrow, the catering bill amounted to R28,000 for President Thabo Mbeki, his wife and nine other passengers. This information came to light in a reply by Defence Minister, Mosiuoa Lekota, after a parliamentary question posed by Nick Clelland-Stokes, DA MP. The reply gives comprehensive details about Mbeki's passengers. When deputy President Jacob Zuma led a delegation to Yamassoukro in the Ivory Coast, only the number of passengers was indicated. Inkwazi's operating costs are estimated at R32,000 an hour. Lekota says in his reply, though, that the figure "wasn't calculated scientifically". "Several costs were not included in the reply, such as catering on domestic flights." It cost R129,322 to transport Mbeki and four passengers, who included a doctor and two security guards, on a return flight from Waterkloof to Cape Town.

The statistics caused a ripple in the presidency on Friday and reports say the Defence Force will be questioned about ways and means to curtail the catering fees. Clelland-Stokes pointed out that one return flight between Pretoria and Paris cost R918,273, while it would have cost R305,500 to buy tickets on a commercial return flight for nine people between Johannesburg and Paris. The flight between Pretoria and Cape Town on May 8, which cost R124,016 for six people, would have cost R27,012 if business class tickets had been bought. Clelland-Stokes says tax payers would have saved R97,000 on just that one flight. The aircraft, operated by 21 Squadron of the SA Air Force and its operating costs are carried by the defence budget.

"The DA has opposed this extravagance from the beginning. We suggested alternatives, such as the use of the national carrier, hired flights or the use of the previous presidential Falcon jet. "We realise that the president must travel in safety and effectively. At R32 000 an hour, Inkwazi shouldn't be used for domestic or short overseas flights." But Bheki Khumalo, a presidential spokesman, says the expenses are justified. Khumalo says: "The costs of the flights have to be weighed against the overseas investments they generate. Expenses regarding President Mbeki's visit to Malaysia earlier this week should be seen, for example, against the background of the thousands of millions of rand which has been invested in South Africa...something that cannot happen without excellent political relationships."

In reply to a question if a lot of money couldn't be saved if Mbeki used hired flights or commercial carriers, Khumalo said the idea was "stillborn". "We decided to buy the aircraft and we must now use it regularly. The president must be able to travel quickly and effortlessly. If he had to depend on commercial carriers, he would have been forced to leave for Malaysia on Friday last week and he would have been able to return on Saturday only, because those were the only available flights.

News24