Government did not know jet belonged to Guptas

"ExecuJet (the company which manages the chartered the plane) is not obliged to disclose to us who the owner of the plane is. What is important, is that the jet belongs to a company which is in South Africa. Necessary process was followed," she told reporters at a briefing at the Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria.

"I have however been informed, following interrogation of the ownership issue, that ExecuJet itself doesn't own and operate its own aircrafts but manages a fleet of aircraft on behalf of various owners from which they source suitable aircrafts in case they are awarded a contract by on the RT-61 contract."

She said the private plane was required for the trip to Japan because none of the SA Air Force aircraft were "available or suitable". A state charter contract of the National Treasury, known as the RT-61 contract, was then initiated and private companies were approached.

"The first company on the list was approached, but the aircraft they had on the list could only complete the flight with multiple refuelling stops and did not meet the requirement," said Mapisa-Nqakula.

"The second company on the list, ExecuJet, was approached and they had the Global Express aircraft available which could complete the flight with only one refuelling stop as well as carry the required amount of passengers."

This week, the country's two biggest opposition parties vowed to get to the bottom of whether proper procurement processes were followed before the jet belonging to the influential Gupta family was used to fly Ramaphosa and a government delegation to Japan.

Media reports revealed on Wednesday that the department of defence hired the Bombardier Aerospace, registered to Westdawn Investments, and owned by the Gupta family and President Jacob Zuma's son, Duduzane.

The jet was hired through a government-managed contract with service provider ExecuJet.

Said the Economic Freedom Fighters: "This then means that the family of President Zuma is benefiting directly from shoddy business dealings between the State and those who do not even blink an eye before financing the ever exorbitant lavish lifestyle of the President and his large family."

The party said it would write to the ministers of defence and finance to check whether proper procurement processes were followed.

The Democratic Alliance said it would submit a similar set of questions to the defence minister, and try to ascertain how much the flight had cost the country's taxpayers.

"The DoD (department of defence) claims they had no idea the plane belonged to the Guptas, saying that the leasing of planes - when the government planes are not available - is done through a central contract managed by the government through National Treasury," the DA said.

"Given the fact that the Guptas are yet again involved with the Waterkloof Air Force Base, the questions surrounding this must be answered fully and urgently in the interests of transparency."

In 2013, a private plane transporting a wedding party for the Gupta family, was allowed to land at the Waterkloof Air Force Base - with government denying that it was responsible, blaming an Indian diplomat for bypassing proper channels and misrepresenting the purpose of the flight. - ANA

(File photo: Gallo Images)