Landing approval not to gain favour – testimony

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  • South Africa

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Publish date 12 July 2019
Issue Number 4738
Diary Legalbrief Today
It appears the man who finally approved the clearance of the Guptas' Waterkloof flight may have done so to land a government job, says a TimesLIVE report. The man was seemingly trying to gain favour with former chief of state ...

It appears the man who finally approved the clearance of the Guptas' Waterkloof flight may have done so to land a government job, says a TimesLIVE report. The man was seemingly trying to gain favour with former chief of state protocol Bruce Koloane to get a job at the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco). Waterkloof command centre flight post officer Thabo Ntshisi was called back to the State Capture Inquiry yesterday, after his initial testimony last week, to comment on cellphone recordings between himself and another person, in which they discuss a job opportunity at Dirco. Ntshisi previously described his interactions with Koloane, who, he said, called him and instructed that he approve the landing of a Jet Airways flight at the Waterkloof Air Force Base on 30 April 2013. The flight was carrying wedding guests attending the Gupta family's lavish Sun City wedding. In the cellphone recordings, Ntshisi is heard speaking to a woman named ‘Sarah’ soon after Koloane issued the instruction. Ntshisi said he had previously spoken to Sarah, who knew someone close to Koloane at Dirco, to arrange a job for him at the department. ‘Because I'm working with clearances so there is a favour I am doing for him right now ... of an Indian aircraft that is coming on the 29th,’ Ntshisi is heard saying in the recordings. But Ntshisi denied he approved the landing to gain favour with Koloane. ‘If you remember correctly in our discussion (with Sarah), I also involved the name of Koloane. When Sarah was going to speak to that particular person, she would then tell that person where Thabo Ntshisi is employed, which was going to be very simple for Koloane to remember when the name Thabo Ntshisi comes up,’ he said through an interpreter.