DA again pushes for Inkwazi to be included on defence committee’s agenda
It appears that Inkwazi isn’t on the radar of Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence for the current term‚ despite several attempts by the Democratic Alliance (DA) to get an update “on the situation regarding the presidential jet”. The party’s Kobus Marais said it was “simply unacceptable” that there was “no provision made in the committee’s third term to deal with this matter”.“To add insult to injury‚ the meeting scheduled for today‚ in which the DA would have raised this concern again‚ has also been cancelled‚ further delaying the exercise of any oversight in this regard‚” Marais said on Friday.He said Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has “been evasive in answering questions and the committee has a duty to conduct this probe”‚ and added that a “sitting of this committee would not jeopardise the ‘national security’ that has‚ in the past‚ been used as a pretext to avoid scrutiny in matters of defence”.Marais suggested‚ as an alternative‚ “a closed session” as a way to “alleviate the concerns” over security.To help Mapisa-Nqakula be ready should she accept this‚ Marais said “she should prepare the following information and documents”:- “Records of past maintenance and servicing of the presidential jet‚ specifically including instances of technical problems/faults;- “Estimated financial costs (ie‚ budget allocated to) the:a) Leasing of a jet for VVIP transport‚ as a per Armscor tender issued in April 2016; andb) Purchase of a jet for VVIP transport‚ as per an Armscor request issued in November 2015;- “Information regarding the envisaged timeline for both the leasing‚ and the purchase‚ of a jet for VVIP transport; and- “Records of all past trips taken by President Jacob Zuma during his term of office on chartered aircraft‚ specifically the dates thereof and the costs incurred.”Marais said: “As the leasing and acquisition of a new presidential jet will be an extremely large budget item‚ it is crucial that the committee be apprised of the reasons for‚ and the progress to date in implementing‚ the acquisition project.”..
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