Mr Speaker, hon Deputy President and members of this House, for the past 22 days our country has been inundated with the news of the landing of a Jet Airways Airbus A330-200 at the Waterkloof Air Force Base, ferrying international guests to a wedding celebration at Sun City.
On behalf of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster, the JCPS cluster, I wish to address this House and highlight the various actions we have taken as a government to investigate this matter and to bring certainty that an occurence of this nature does not take place again.
There have been a number of misinterpretations of the facts and we are accustomed to the approach of opposition parties that choose to appoint themselves as prosecutor, judge and jury all put together. We have become used to opposition parties reaching a verdict while lacking any of the facts and to opposition parties responding hysterically when the facts of the matter do not fit their own fabricated conclusions. [Interjections.]
In a spirit of transparency and our desire to bring this matter to a satisfactory close, I wish to inform the House that I have acceded to the request of the Public Protector to furnish her with a copy of this report.
There is only one report - this report - coming from the investigating team, and it was released to the public today. Criticising the report without having had the benefit of reading it is informed by a much more sinister motive than this official report. It is informed, in my view, by accusations of a cover-up even before the report was presented to the JCPS cluster of Ministers. Other than speculation, it is inconceivable that persons other than the ones who commissioned the report would have access to it before it was presented to the cluster of Ministers.
The Ministers in the JCPS cluster applied their minds to the report and resolved to accept its contents. We are aware that there are some in this House who may want a new route rather than the one we have taken. We will not dictate to the House what decision to take on this new route. We can only reiterate that, having applied our minds to this report, we are convinced that it has satisfied the mandate given to the investigating team.
There was full co-operation by all departments and role-players concerned. Included in the methodology was the collection of sworn statements, affidavits and in loco visits. We are convinced that no methodology exists other than the one deployed to arrive at conclusions of this nature.
The investigating team had already started with their investigations on 1 May 2013. Based on preliminary investigations which were undertaken by government, swift action was immediately taken against implicated individuals. On 2 May 2013, the Minister gave the committee of the directors-general seven working days to conduct this investigation.
The investigating team of four of the highest-ranking officials comprised one black woman director-general, one African male director-general, one African female acting director-general, and one male acting Co-ordinator for Intelligence Services. These excluded the directors-general of the departments whose officials were directly involved in this collusion. We are confident that the investigating team carried out its tasks in a professional and diligent manner. They met all the deadlines set by the cluster of Ministers.
What are the facts, not fiction?
In February 2013 the Gupta family approached the Airports Company of South Africa, Acsa, and requested landing rights and an elaborate reception for the wedding party at the O R Tambo International Airport. This would have disrupted the functioning of O R Tambo International Airport at the time of landing, particularly the operations of the National Immigration Branch at the airport. [Interjections.] As a result, the Airports Company SA and the Minister of Transport turned this request down.
In March 2013 the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans and her political adviser were approached by the Gupta family on different occasions. On 3 April 2013 this request was turned down by the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans.
The Gupta family then resorted to the use of the diplomatic channel, with the support of an individual at the High Commission of India, who redesignated this wedding entourage as an official delegation in order to enable them to use the Waterkloof Air Force Base under cover of diplomatic privilege. It is an undisputed fact that there was no official note verbale from the High Commission of India to the Department of International Relations and Co-operation, and therefore due process was not followed. An individual in the High Commission of India communicated directly with individuals at the Air Force command post. This collusion of officials resulted in the irregular approval of the flight clearance.
The aircraft in question was therefore cleared for landing and the correct clearance procedures were followed, but this was based on false pretences as a result of this manipulation of the process by the Gupta family, individuals at the High Commission of India, the Chief of State Protocol, Ambassador V B Koloane, and the Movement Control Officer, Lt Col C Anderson, who shared a common purpose and acted in concert.
This had the potential of damaging the good diplomatic and deep historical relations South Africa enjoys with India on the bilateral, multilateral, international and Brics level.
Ambassador Koloane admitted under investigation that the request for the Gupta family wedding - an admission on the status of the visit - was clearly not official, diplomatic or military and that the incoming party was not a delegation in the official understanding of the term.
The Director-General in the Presidency made it clear that no one in the Presidency ever gave any instruction in regard to the conduct of Ambassador Koloane. This included the private office of the President.
The reference to an invitation to the Indian delegation to the Free State provincial government was unclear, as no member of this party travelled to the Free State for such a meeting. However, an Indian state minister, the equivalent of an MEC, was received by the Free State MEC for Agriculture three days prior to the arrival of the Gupta wedding party. This Indian state minister therefore arrived in and departed from South Africa completely separately from the Gupta wedding party, despite attending the wedding at Sun City.
As a government, we reiterate that those who are found by the continuing investigation to have colluded will be dealt with in a decisive manner, with the requirement of the labour processes attached thereto.
Six cases have been opened at the Sun City Police Station and the report mentions the pieces of legislation that were infringed and the relevant case numbers. In spite of what one media report said this morning, no decision has been taken to withdraw a case relating to this incident. The National Prosecuting Authority, as we speak, is dealing with these matters.
Members of the executive were not required to issue any instructions, did not issue any instructions and did not create the impression that they ought to have issued any instructions. There is factual and incontrovertible evidence, both real and direct, that would even stand up in a court of law. This evidence clearly shows that the two officials are not fall guys or scapegoats, as we are made to believe, but masters of this manipulation of the process. We therefore say that the only logical conclusion is that they were on a frolic of their own. We want to dispel any notion that the plane just landed as was authorised and cleared, albeit through the manipulation of the process. [Interjections.]
Any insinuation of a cover-up, as alluded to by opposition party leaders and some commentators, is clearly misplaced. Their stance is informed by their viewing of a legal issue from a political, uninformed and emotional perspective.
In conclusion, Mr Speaker, we are aware that with the next elections just around the corner, every effort will be made to use the report, in spite of its comprehensiveness, as a tool to garner support for certain political parties and individuals within them. [Applause.] It would be wrong for us to decide on the election strategies and tactics of other political parties and individuals, but we do caution against the unnecessary exaggeration of facts without corroborative and incontrovertible evidence being brought forward.
If there are individuals in both this House and the general public who have information that will strengthen further investigations into this matter, they are at liberty to submit this to the police and investigating officers.
We have demonstrated our transparency and responsiveness in addressing this incident. We will continue to work even harder and better to secure our country and ensure that our people feel safe and are safe. In doing so, we will not fall prey to the small-mindedness and carping that the opposition makes itself guilty of every time a matter of national importance arises. Thank you. [Applause.]