CAPE TOWN - Questions have been raised over R2.4-billion spent by the South African National Defence Force on charter flights over a five-year period.
The Democratic Alliance says Defence Minister Angie Motshekga has failed to provide Parliament with a detailed breakdown of the expenditure.
The party has also flagged what it describes as a R540,000 discrepancy in figures provided by the Department of Defence.
Questions are now being raised about how many flights were chartered, what each flight cost and which companies benefited from the contracts.
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Defence and national security analyst Ricardo Teixeira says the concerns point to broader problems with financial oversight within the department.
“It’s just basic record-keeping and some financial accountability.”
Teixeira says the Department of Defence has been under increasing financial pressure, receiving a smaller share of government funding while repeatedly seeking additional resources from National Treasury.
He argues that this makes proper financial accountability even more important.
“There are still no clear answers on the number of flights, the average cost per flight or flight hour, and which companies received the contracts,” he adds.
Teixeira also points to what he describes as a significant discrepancy between the number of flights reportedly claimed and the expenditure recorded.
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