Mr Speaker, hon Deputy President and hon members, for the information of the hon Comrade Lekota, it is called neocolonialism of a special kind. One would have expected government to furnish us with a copy of the report in order to enhance this debate.
However, we are not surprised by this, because here we are dealing with a government that took the dubious decision to investigate itself! This must have been the easiest investigation for government to conduct, considering the close proximity of the Guptas to the Cabinet and the directors-general. This generally corrupt relationship between the Cabinet and the Guptas has allowed the Guptas to use state-owned enterprises as a cash cow in their controversial free-of-charge breakfast shows on the national broadcaster.
Mr Speaker, it is a blatant lie to assert that the Gupta planes did not obtain authorisation to land at the Waterkloof Air Force Base. Without authorisation, none of these planes would have entered our airspace. The fact that they obtained authorisation proves beyond reasonable doubt that the Guptas have been getting away with using Waterkloof as their parking bay each time they host important visitors from abroad. They just happened to be caught red-handed this time around. [Interjections.]
There are a lot of things that do not add up about government's Guptagate report. Firstly, if the Waterkloof base is not a national key point, why waste our time by lining up and parading Ministers from the security cluster to address the nation on the matter?
The SA Revenue Service complained that it was not informed about this matter, whilst other departments such as Home Affairs confirmed that they were informed in advance. This led to a situation in which some of the gifts the visitors brought with them were not declared when they entered the country. I am aware that many of these gifts were given to current and former Cabinet Ministers. [Interjections.] In the interests of good governance, should they not return the gifts?
In conclusion, given the fact that the planes did not obtain authorisation, how and by whom were these planes refuelled?
The only deduction that one can make from this fiasco is that the mere mention of the Gupta name is enough to send the entire Cabinet into a tailspin. In addition to the inconsistencies I have mentioned, if the Waterkloof Air Force Base is not a national key point, why have the senior officials who allegedly authorised the landing been suspended? In the light of the fact that these officials should get delegated powers to authorise ... [Time expired.] [Applause.]