KwaZulu-Natal responds to media reports on cost of King’s flights
9 July 2015
The Premier of KwaZulu-Natal would like to emphatically reaffirm the austerity measures as announced by the Minister of Finance early this year. There is no contradiction between the austerity measures which are now government policy and complying with logistical arrangements that has been verified and approved by competent personnel who have taken all precautionary measures of safety of His Majesty, and feasible and cost-effective mode of transport.
It is important to indicate that support staff responsible for the travel arrangements of government officials, including the Executive and His Majesty the King, do a thorough analysis and consider all security measures before deciding on which mode of transport to use.
An impression created by the screaming head-lines about the cost of the King’s flights is very unfortunate, especially from the honourable members of parliament who know the proper forum to raise such matters with the view to debate them.
There is no justification whatsoever to the conduct of the honourable members who are hell bent on embarrassing His Majesty by leaking a parliamentary question to the media after getting an official response. This does not only show the total disregard of the parliamentary process by these members, but a total disrespect of His Majesty.