Cele’s travel costs criticised

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has yet again questioned Police Minister Bheki Cele’s travel costs, this time after he spent over R170 000 to travel to KwaZulu-Natal for a media briefing.

Although the party welcomed the arrest of the Kiernan “AKA” Forbes murder suspects, it criticised Cele for spending a huge amount to hold a press conference “to show South Africa that SAPS is doing the job it is supposed to be doing”.

After the media briefing, DA shadow deputy minister of police Okkie Terblanche wrote a letter to the police minister asking what the total cost of arranging and staging the media briefing he held on February 27 in Durban was.

The question included a detailed breakdown of the costs of flights, transfers, accommodation, transport, costs of broadcasting, media-related costs, and venue costs.

In response, the police ministry revealed that the estimated total costs associated with the flight of the SAPS Cessna Sovereign aircraft to KwaZulu-Natal on February 27 were R176 945.

The aircraft was flown for two hours and the costs included fuel, airframe maintenance, labour and parts, engine restoration and miscellaneous costs.

According to the Aircraft Cost Calculator website, which the police ministry used to estimate the travel costs, the Cessna Sovereign requires a two-person crew and can transport up to nine passengers.

“Please note that there were no other costs involved,” said the police minister.

In the same month, Cele came under fire for using an SAPS helicopter at the African National Congress’s (ANC) election manifesto at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium.

A video on social media showed the police minister arriving at the event in the chopper, sparking criticism from South Africans who accused the minister of abusing state resources.

The DA has called for Cele to be billed in his personal capacity and a full SAPS internal investigation to review the process that authorised the use of the helicopter by Cele.

“State resources, including SAPS assets, should never be used for party political events. By commandeering a helicopter from the SAPS Air Wing Unit, Cele displayed an arrogant sense of entitlement that has become the hallmark of ANC politicians across the government system,” said the party at the time.

However, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, said the SAPS chopper was deployed to the ANC manifesto launch to monitor the large crowds.

“The minister of police was, at the time, conducting his constitutional responsibility as a minister of police, where he also advised and guided operations,” said Mathe.