Speaker, Minister Radebe reiterated again this afternoon that President Jacob Zuma and his Cabinet were not involved in the landing of flight JAI 9900 at the military base. This contradicts claims by the Gupta family's spokesperson, who was adamant that permission to land the private jet at the Waterkloof Air Force Base was given by the SA National Defence Force beforehand.
If Cabinet Ministers were not involved in authorising the landing of the Gupta jet at the military airport, we want to know who authorised the deployment of the 194 government personnel and the 88 government vehicles that offered convoy protection from the military base. Why would such personnel and vehicles be authorised to offer protection to people who were not authorised to land at the Waterkloof Air Force Base in the first place? We further wish to know why arrangements for immigration and customs officials to be present at the airport were not made. No one knows what may have been brought into the country as a result of such negligence.
Because of these contradictions, the ACDP has further questions that need to be answered. We want to know why blame for this embarrassing saga of lax security has been placed mainly on two officials, namely the Chief of State Protocol, Ambassador Koloane, and the officer in charge of movement control at the Waterkloof Air Force Base, Lt Col Anderson, who, we are told, does not have executive authority for landing clearances or flight plans. She could not have given permission. We want to know further why Ambassador Koloane has been accused of granting permission illegally, when the Gupta family spokesperson is adamant that permission to land the aircraft was granted by the SANDF. Are the Guptas lying, or is the report full of blatant lies?
If indeed the Gupta family approached the Airports Company South Africa, as we have been told, to request landing rights, which rights were refused, and then approached the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans and her advisers for permission, which was again refused, and again resorted to the use of diplomatic channels, we want to know why the Gupta family is not then being investigated or charged with bringing government departments into disrepute? Was the favour of using the military airport done for them free of charge, or were any payments made for such favours? We want to know.
We further want to know whether we are expected to believe that it was Ambassador Koloane who gave flight JAI 9900 the right to land, knowing that the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans had allegedly refused to give permission. Or didn't he know? If he didn't know, why did the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans not communicate her refusal to grant permission for landing rights for the aircraft in question? Why would Ambassador Koloane risk his career and future by overruling the Minister's decision? Could he have done it without some form of compensation?
There are too many contradictions and improbabilities in this scandal, which make it impossible for the ACDP to believe what has been said. The ACDP therefore calls for an independent commission of inquiry to get to the bottom of what really happened, and to confirm whether the accused and suspended officials indeed acted on their own and whether they did so without the knowledge or approval of any Cabinet Minister. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]