Success: Public Protector says use of SANDF aircraft for ANC trip to Harare is illegal

The Public Protector (PP), following the civil rights organisation AfriForum’s complaint in 2020, found that the use of a SANDF aircraft to transport an ANC delegation to Harare, Zimbabwe, violated the law. Former Minister of Defense and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, and six other ANC delegates departed from the Waterkloof Air Force Base on 8 September 2020 and returned on 9 September 2020. The total costs associated with the trip were R231 973, aside from refreshments on board the plane which amounted to R15 558.

The PP found that Mapisa-Nqakula did not have the authorisation or permission to transport the ANC delegation in a SANDF aircraft, which was only approved to transport her and her staff to Harare and back. So, according to the PP, state resources were illegally used to improperly benefit a political party. The PP instructed that the president must issue a directive within 30 days of receiving the report, prescribing compliance with the ministerial handbook in relation to the use of state funds for air travel.

“It is absolutely despicable that the ANC used state funds illegally to benefit the party. This action shows the ANC’s contempt for the people of this country, as well as that the ANC considers itself above the law. AfriForum will continue to fight in the interest of the public against the ANC’s abuse of state funds, mismanagement and corruption,” says Reiner Duvenage, Campaign Officer for Strategy and Content at AfriForum.