The acquisition of new aircraft to transport South Africa’s VVIPs‚ including president Jacob Zuma and his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa‚ will be delayed as Armscor has cancelled the tender for the lease of the intercontinental aircraft. "The long-awaited issuing of the tender for the lease of an intercontinental aircraft for the SA Air Force – ETEL/2016/130 - has been cancelled‚ after a rigorous and highly intensive evaluation process‚" said Armscor CEO Kevin Wakeford. Zuma's R500m backup Boeing is on its wayThe air force plans to spend about R500-million on an 18-month lease of a second luxury jet for President Jacob Zuma that aviation experts say he doesn't need. This comes as the defence acquisition‚ disposals and research and development agency Armscor said none of the bids achieved a full score satisfactorily in the overall evaluation‚ thus prompting the cancellation of the tender. "The decision to cancel the tender was not an easy one to take considering that we had to cancel the previous one due to a no successful bid. "Potential bidders were notified to respond to individual items in the lease and indicate compliance to the specifications outlined. Bidders were also advised to add the necessary motivations as to why the offer complies with the criteria listed. Any non-compliance would lead to the offer being eliminated from further evaluation‚" Wakeford said."It’s back to the drawing board for us‚ and we will maintain our unwavering insistence on total compliance in every aspect of the requirements‚" he guaranteed‚ adding that the Department of Defence and Military Veterans "expects no less from us." The tender was released on August 17 this year. Bidders were required to meet specific criteria‚ which included requirements for the aircraft and technical specifications. Armscor gave the assurance that all the bids had been subjected to "a rigorous and highly intensive evaluation process".Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula had earlier this year‚ stressed that the acquisition of aircraft for the president and deputy president was "urgent" as both the presidential jet‚ Inkwazi‚ and the plane transporting Ramaphosa had run into technical problems several times‚ endangering their safety. - TMG Digital..