Now that President Jacob Zuma has shown he can do it‚ the Democratic Alliance (DA) on Wednesday encouraged the leader to keep using “South African Airways (SAA) for the occasional long-haul intercontinental flight”. Using the national carrier‚ said the party’s Kobus Marais‚ “will free up millions which can be redirected towards much-needed job creation”.It would display Zuma’s “seriousness for economic stability by opting for modest modes of transportation”‚ he added.Zuma used SAA to fly to and from last week's United Nations General Assembly in New York.Marais said this would also allow for funds to “be reallocated to maintaining Inkwazi and other jets in the South African Air Force (SAAF)”.He made his comments after an oversight visit to the SAAF‚ which revealed that‚ apart from the “routine maintenance repair of snags”‚ there is “nothing wrong with…Inkwazi”.In fact‚ Marais added‚ the “Chief of the SAAF‚ Lieutenant-General Fabian Msimang‚ has expressed pride in the reliability of among others Inkwazi‚ his only concern being the inadequate budget allocation for spare parts for routine maintenance”.“Contrary to reports by the Minister of Defence‚ Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakila‚ that Inkwazi was ‘grounded due to safety reasons’‚ Inkwazi was recently used for training new pilots for the BBJ‚ and to fly some senior officers to Langebaan Air Force Base and other bases‚” he said.Marais said: “Msimang has not received complaints by the Presidency that Inkwazi is unreliable. Why then does minister Mapisa-Nqakula insist we spent R273 972 per day for the lease of a presidential jet for Zuma when it is unnecessary?” – TMG Digital..