“The Democratic Alliance (DA) will investigate reports in the media today that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa‚ accompanied by ministers and deputy ministers‚ made use of a leased private plane that belongs to the Gupta family‚ for his trip to Japan last weekend‚” DA MP Kobus Marais said on Wednesday.

The official opposition said that with the Gupta family’s “close links to high-ranking African National Congress members‚ including President Jacob Zuma‚ this use of public money deserves urgent investigation”.

“This is especially the case given the Guptagate scandal last year — where the Gupta family landed at the Waterkloof Airforce base — with the reported permission of ‘Number One’‚” said Marais.

“According to reports‚ Bombardier Aerospace was hired by the Department of Defence‚ through a government-managed contract with service provider ExecuJet‚ which then provided the Gupta-owned private jet for the trip.

 “The plane left the Waterkloof Air Force Base last Friday night‚ under the call sign ‘South Africa 2’‚ which is reserved for the deputy president.’

The DA said it would submit Parliamentary questions to the Minister of Defence‚ Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula‚ to establish exactly why the deputy president had to make use of a private charter plane when he had a state allocated one; and why he and the delegation had not made use of South African Airways‚ which flies to two destinations in Japan every week.

The party would also ask whether ExecuJet‚ an approved supplier‚ had adhered to its contractual obligations in regards to the leasing of the plane; and what the total cost of these flights was‚ considering it would‚ “more than likely be billed to ordinary taxpayers”.

Marais said the Department of Defence “claims they had no idea the plane belonged to the Guptas‚ saying that the leasing of planes — when the government planes are not available — is done through a central contract managed by the government through National Treasury”.