The public protector’s report, which cleared Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka of any improper behaviour regarding her Christmas holiday trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said she is free to take leave and travel to any destination in terms of the government’s policy guidelines.
The report also stated that former presidents FW de Klerk and apartheid strongman PW Botha have unlimited use of flight services in terms of government rules.
It is also a loophole that can be exploited by former deputy president Jacob Zuma. The report noted that in the 2005/06 financial year, R2-million was spent on Botha — who left office in 1989 — for his travel arrangements, R3-million on De Klerk, who left politics in 1997, and R5-million on former President Nelson Mandela who left office in 1999.
Altogether R6,8-million was spent on Zuma, who was axed from office in June last year.
Noting that the state had a constitutional obligation to protect the deputy president during “his/her” tenure and “after she/he leaves office”, Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana — who is a former ruling African National Congress MP — said in reply to a question about whether it was wise for her to go on a holiday to the UAE involving such conspicuous expenditure: “Maybe I need to start by saying is it wise to spend money on PW Botha? Is it wise to spend money on Jacob Zuma? Is it wise to spend money on former president De Klerk. I think we need to answer those questions … so we begin to treat people equally.”
The report said the current deputy president’s UAE junket — including a friend and her husband — cost R604Â 883.
No wrongdoing
In his report on the investigation into allegations of unethical and improper conduct by the deputy president, he said that the deputy president “is entitled to take leave whenever it is possible for her/him to do so and to travel to any destination of her/his choice when she/he is on vacation.
“The obligation of the state to protect the deputy president, even when she/he is on leave, cannot infringe on her/his right to go on vacation to the destination of her/his choice. It cannot prevent her/him from being accompanied by her/his family and friends, should she/he wish to take them along.
The fact that the mode of transport is prescribed to her/him by the South African Police Service, for security reasons and in terms of government policy, does not disqualify her/him from travelling wherever she/he wants to go on vacation.” — I-Net Bridge