Nzimande responds to Gupta matter

South Africa could not allow private activities on any of its military places, SA Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Blade Nzimande said on Wednesday.

   

He said the private use of the Waterkloof AFB landing area by the Gupta family for wedding guests should be investigated. “Our sovereignty and dignity as a country is at stake and must be protected,” Nzimande said at a Workers Day rally in Galeshewe in Kimberley.  He said the issue was not discussed within the SACP or its alliance partners because it only happened on Tuesday.

 

Gupta family spokesman Gary Naidoo said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon that permission was obtained from the SA National Defence Force to use the base. "In response to further media enquiries, the Gupta family reiterates that permission for aircraft, carrying foreign ministers and other dignitaries, was obtained from the SANDF beforehand," the 

statement said. "No aircraft is able to land anywhere in the world without obtaining prior permission."

 

The Gupta family, who owns The New Age newspaper and Sahara Computers, was celebrating the wedding of Vega Gupta, 23, to Indian-born Aaskash Jahajgarhia at Sun City, North West, from May 1 to May 4. Wedding spokesperson Haranath Ghosh said authorities had granted permission for a private jet, with family wedding guests on board, to land there.

 

"The Waterkloof [Air Force Base] was used, as Lanseria airport could not accommodate the size of the jet chartered by the family," he said in a statement. The Indian High Commission, and not the family, applied for it. Attempts to confirm this with the High Commission in Pretoria were unsuccessful.  Deputy High Commissioner Armstrong Changsan said the High Commissioner was the only one allowed to comment, and he was not available until Monday.

 

-Sapa