President Cyril Ramaphosa has reprimanded Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula for allowing African National Congress (ANC) delegates to use a military jet to fly to talks in Zimbabwe, and ordered that her salary be paid to the Solidarity Fund for the next three months.
He also ordered that the ANC reimburse the state, and that he be informed once this was done.
Ramaphosa announced the steps in a series of tweets late on Saturday night.
Mapisa-Nqakula had claimed that she had merely given ‘a lift’ to senior ANC officials, including secretary general Ace Magashule, on the South African National Defence Force VIP jet, which she was using to fly to official talks in Harare earlier this month. The ANC delegates were on their way to talks with Zanu-PF counterparts.
However, Ramaphosa last night called it ‘an error of judgement’ not in keeping with the responsibilities of a minister of cabinet.
This was not ‘in the best interest of good governance’.