Speaker, President Jacob Zuma told us during the state of the nation address on 14 February 2013 that government was waging a war against corruption. But, just minutes before, he had welcomed special and distinguished guests, which included none other than Atul Gupta, who was sitting in, of all places, the presidential box.
The President did not hesitate to flaunt his close relationship with the Guptas, right here under our noses in Parliament. That neatly illustrates, as the President likes to say, "where the problem comes" because the root cause of the problem that led to Guptagate is President Jacob Zuma. [Applause.] He is responsible for creating the culture of undue influence referred to in the investigation report. That is why the President should be here today to account to Parliament, rather than hiding away from us in the Union Buildings.
When the Jet Airways Airbus landed at Waterkloof Air Force Base on 30 April 2013, it triggered a massive political fallout. Years of frustration with President Zuma's sugar daddies, who include the Shaiks, the Reddys and the Guptas, and who make up Zuma Inc, exploded. Something snapped inside the ruling party and even Gwede "Don't upset Ministers" Mantashe was moved to issue a public statement condemning Guptagate. With the situation spinning out of control, the hon Jeff Radebe, the damage control officer-in-chief, was brought in to contain the political fallout.
It came as no surprise that the investigation effectively exonerated President Zuma and members of his Cabinet. The Minister was at pains to point out that Ministers were not involved in this matter. Well, the fact is that nobody believes that not one Minister knew anything about 3 fixed- wing aircraft, 7 helicopters, 88 vehicles and 490 personnel supporting a private function from the Waterkloof Air Force Base.
The Minister then went on to make an extraordinary statement that Ministers were not required to issue any instructions, and indeed did not issue any instructions. But, had clear instructions been issued, there would have been no Guptagate.
The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans received a request from the Gupta family to use Waterkloof Air Force Base. To her credit, the Minister turned down that request. But then the Minister failed to inform the Minister of Defence and the Chief of the Defence Force of her decision. We have to ask: In what kind of country does a private individual telephone a Minister and request landing rights at a strategic military base? [Interjections.] [Applause.] And we also have to ask ourselves: In what kind of country does a Minister turn down such a request and then not officially communicate the decision to senior officials in her department?
The Minister, evidently, needs to be reminded that she runs a state department which is responsible for the defence of this country, not a spaza shop. [Applause.] Had the Minister taken action and issued clear instructions, the Jet Airways Airbus would never have landed at Waterkloof Air Force Base, and there would have been no Guptagate scandal.
There is a widely held perception that when the Guptas say, "Jump," the President says, "How high?" So, why are we surprised that when the Guptas said, "Jump", some senior officials said, "How high?"
We cannot sit back and allow Ministers to get off the hook by hanging out a few rogue officials to dry. Ministerial heads must roll. That is why we have requested the Public Protector to conduct an independent investigation into Guptagate. We need to know what the President knew, when the President knew it, and what he did about it. And, we need to know what Ministers knew, when they knew it, and what they did about it. Because, in the end, Ministers are responsible and Ministers must be held accountable.
If the Minister has been really serious about ensuring that such a situation never happened again, then the final report of the investigation should have read something like this:
Name: Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula Position: Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Charge: Incompetence Finding: The Minister was negligent in not communicating her decision to deny a request from the Gupta family to use Waterkloof Air Force Base Recommendation: Fire
But, in the end, if we really want to ensure that something like this never happens again, we have to come together in our thousands, we have to come together in our tens of thousands, we have to come together in our millions, and together we have to fire President Jacob Zuma on election day in 2014. I thank you. [Applause.]