Defence Minister orders removal of Gupta plane from airforce base

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

Defence Minister, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has ordered the immediate removal of the Gupta family's chartered private jet from the Waterkloof Air Base.

She also instructed that the clearance for it to land there be rescinded.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Defence Minister added that she had directed an investigation into the matter.

Mapisa-Nqakula says a representative from the Sahara computer company approached the ministry about the matter earlier, but the request was dismissed and the representative was referred to the Airports Company.

She says her ministry never expected that attempts would be made to find other avenues for the clearance.

The Ministry statement said the Waterkloof Air Command was approached by the Department of International Relations's State Protocol office, who said there would be Indian ministers on the plane.

As part of a normal process, the Air Command agreed to the request -- unaware of the earlier attempt by the Sahara representative.

Meanwhile, Cabinet could also not provide answers to all the burning questions around the Gupta plane scandal.

But, the Minister for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Collins Chabane says time should be allowed to those who are conducting the investigations.

"Dirco has announced the suspension of one official the "Head of Protocol" and the question is are other people going to be suspended. obviously the relevant departments we look at the issues which affect them, because there are quite a few institutions involved and as they continue the investigation or they will make decisions as they go along and I think they will be appropriate announcements" Chabane said.