Jobs not Jets: DA to PAIA Inkwazi maintenance records
28 July 2016
Today the DA will be submitting an application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to ExecuJet South Africa (Pty) Ltd to gain access to the maintenance records of the Presidential Jet - Inkwazi.
ExecuJet has for the last few years been receiving repeated contracts for the maintenance of President Jacob Zuma’s Inkwazi, as well as a number of the South African Air Force’s VVIP jet fleet for which we need the details to assess the claims that the President needs to lease another jet or even purchase one to the tune of billions of rands at taxpayers' expense.
This comes after it was recently revealed that Armscor paid R230 million for the maintenance of their VVIP jet fleet to ExecuJet Maintenance over the last two years.
The DA has therefore requested all contracts undertaken by ExecuJet Maintenance, pertaining to the Inkwazi jet, as well as all records of maintenance performed by ExecuJet Maintenance on Inkwazi from 1 January 2011 to present.
The DA believes that the South African public deserves access to these contracts, in order to determine the amounts and resources spent on maintaining Zuma’s Inkwazi, which is left unused and allegedly unfit for use. The maintenance records will give clarity on the safety and functionality of the President’s private plane. The leader of the Democratic Alliance, Mmusi Maimane MP, has previously requested the maintenance records from the Department of Defence, to no avail.
However, the DA will not rest until the truth is known regarding the state of Inkwazi.
It is evident that the ANC government at the hands of President Zuma are not focused on job creation and would rather use taxpayers’ money on unnecessary and expensive jets.
The DA has maintained from the outset of this “jet” saga that there is no reason for the leasing of other jets when millions of rands are being spent maintaining the existing presidential jet, Inkwazi, which is fit for purpose.
On 3 August, South Africans have the opportunity to vote in a DA government, South Africans have the opportunity to vote for jobs, not jets.
Issued by Kobus Marais, DA Shadow Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, 28 July 2016
