SAAF's 15 Squadron: President Jacob Zuma's airborne taxi service

The South African Air Force's 15 Squadron appears to have been reduced to operating what amounts to an airborne taxi service for President Jacob Zuma.

It was reported today that President Jacob Zuma has been using two of the SAAF's Oryx helicopters to ferry him between Nkandla and King Shaka Airport at R36 000 per roundtrip for the weekend. This despite the fact that there has been no funding made available for the use of SAAF helicopters for mountain and sea rescue operations in KwaZulu-Natal (see Beeld report).

According to the report, a similar problem is occurring with the SAAF 22 Squadron in Cape Town with the SAAF helicopters being used primarily for VIP flights leaving very little budget for flight training. The Department of Defence appears to have a skewed sense of their budget priorities.

Between 2009/10 and 2012/13 the SAAF undertook 590 helicopter flights for VIP's at the cost of R50.9 million. A total of 291 ferry flights (passengerless flights) were undertaken by the Oryx helicopters during this period at a cost of R6 115 655.90.

A significant proportion of these flights were probably to transport President Jacob Zuma from King Shaka International Airport to his private residence at Nkandla.

It is hard not to conclude that the SAAF is being reduced to an airborne taxi service for VIPs especially President Jacob Zuma.

I will, therefore, be submitting detailed follow-up parliamentary questions probing the number of flights and the cost of transporting President Jacob Zuma from King Shaka International Airport to his private residence at Nkandla.

Statement issued by David Maynier MP, DA Shadow Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, July 30 2013

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