The state is to spend R1.6-billion on two new long-range jets for President Jacob Zuma and Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, the Sunday Times reported.
The newspaper reported that this was after technical problems on VIP flights had put their lives in danger.
The department of defence confirmed that a tender was out for the purchase of two new jets for the exclusive used of Zuma and Motlanthe.
Ministry spokesperson Ndivhuwo Mabaya said the department was weighing several options, including whether to lease the aircraft or to buy them outright.
In 2009, on his way back from an African Union summit in Libya, Motlanthe’s airplane made an emergency landing on a dark runway in the Democratic Republic of Congo after it had missed a fuel stop in the Central African Republic.
In September, the airplane flying him to the opening of the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand missed its first landing slot “as a precautionary measure”, according to the defence department.
The secretary of defence, Mpumi Mpofu, has resigned and Lieutenant General Carlo Gagiano, the head of the air force, has also tendered his resignation after Motlanthe missed an official state visit to Finland last month because of mechanical problems in the aircraft he was supposed to use. – Sapa and Staff reporter