BDFM News Online
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
THE African National Congress (ANC) yesterday rallied around Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, who has been accused of poor judgment for taking a chartered plane that cost taxpayers R4,55m to fly her to the UK, accusing opposition parties of plotting to damage her image.
ANC spokesman Smuts Ngonyama told the media and opposition parties to keep their hands off Mlambo-Ngcuka.
"The ANC remains concerned that some people are hellbent on tarnishing the image of the deputy president and by extension the image of the ANC-led government," Ngonyama said.
Although Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota has appointed a board of inquiry into the hiring of a private jet to transport Mlambo-Ngcuka to the UK, the opposition has relentlessly pursued the matter, calling on her to take part of the blame, at least politically, for the saga, even though it was not the Presidency that was responsible for making the flight arrangements.
Lekota has already absolved the deputy president of any wrongdoing, saying the responsibility for air travel for her and the president lay with the South African Air Force.
Lekota said the cost was "irregular and way out of proportion with reasonable standards". The aircraft was hired by someone in the defence department without authorisation of the ministry, the secretary for defence or the acting chief of the South African National Defence Force. The deputy president had offered to use commercial flights, he said.
"There are some who continue to suggest some form of wrongdoing on the part of the deputy president," Ngonyama said. "To those who seem determined to continue this campaign against Mlambo-Ngcuka, the ANC says hands off the deputy president," he said.
Meanwhile, the Commission on Gender Equality has also come out with all guns blazing in her defence. The body has questioned whether Mlambo-Ngcuka is being set up for failure because she is a woman.
It said the incident, caused by apparent administrative lapses, demonstrated a lack of appropriate support for her position. It found it strange that the deputy president's position had "previously been occupied by men who never experienced similar kinds of problems".
Earlier this year, public protector Lawrence Mushwana cleared Mlambo-Ngcuka of misusing state resources by visiting Dubai for a holiday on a South African Air Force aircraft. With Sapa