The Democratic Alliance has accused Defence Minister Angie Motshekga of hiding behind bureaucratic excuses after she failed to provide detailed information about R2.4 billion spent on chartered flights for the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) over five years.
Chris Hattingh, the DA spokesperson on defence and military veterans, said in a statement that Motshekga continues to withhold the breakdown requested by his party despite confirming that the department holds the underlying records.
The minister also did not provide a deadline for when she would supply the information to parliament.
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Hattingh said the DA asked for annual flight numbers and costs across ordinary travel-management arrangements, supply chain management deviations, and emergency procurement. The opposition party also requested flight numbers and costs by operational category, together with the number of deviations that exceeded R1 million, R5 million and R10 million.
“Minister Motshekga cannot keep hiding behind bureaucratic excuses while R2.4 billion of public money goes unaccounted for. The people of South Africa deserve answers, not evasion,” Hattingh said.
Parliamentary replies posted by the Parliamentary Monitoring Group show the SANDF spent R2 395 521 275 on chartered flights between the 2021/22 and 2025/26 financial years. The yearly breakdown shows spending jumped from R15 492 850 in 2021/22 to R753 797 591 in 2022/23, before settling at around R620 million per year.
Accounting error raises questions
Hattingh said there is a R540 000 discrepancy in the department’s figures. The five annual amounts listed in the parliamentary reply add up to R2 396 061 275, while the stated total is R2 395 521 275.
“The Minister must explain the difference and provide verified figures. Either the Department is sloppy with public money, or it is deliberately obscuring the truth. Neither is acceptable,” he said.
The department said in its parliamentary reply that it is reconciling its records to ensure accurate attribution and avoid double counting. But the DA said this work must have a completion date so parliament can scrutinise the spending.
The reported total covers chartered flights procured through several mechanisms, including ordinary supply chain processes and deviations approved in terms of Treasury Regulation 16A6.4. The parliamentary replies do not show how much was spent through deviations or whether any particular spending was irregular.
SANDF forced to charter as air force planes grounded
Defence experts say the SANDF has been forced to rely on chartered aircraft because most South African Air Force planes, including the C-130BZ Hercules medium transports, are not operational. The VIP transport unit at Air Force Base Waterkloof also has availability and airworthiness problems in an ageing inventory that includes the presidential Boeing 737.
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Parliamentary replies show the charters were used for access to remote areas, medical evacuations, peacekeeping and regional missions, disaster relief, VIP transport, military training, urgent operational deployments, situations where commercial flights were unavailable, and sensitive security movements.
Hattingh said the DA will submit further written questions seeking verified spending figures, a firm deadline for the outstanding breakdowns, and identification of the official responsible for completing the reconciliation.
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