A former South African National Defence Force (SANDF) Defence Intelligence officer has told the Pretoria High Court that a chartered flight linked to the Umkhombe Marine matter had already reached Waterkloof Air Force Base before the necessary discussions and approval procedures had taken place.
Major-General Gerald Sandile Sizane testified that flights entering the military base were required to go through his office for approval, but said the particular flight had never been brought to his attention.
“But this particular one was never brought to my attention,” Sizane told the court.
He explained that the normal procedure required incoming flights to be referred to his office, but in this instance, the relevant documentation had not been presented to him.
The testimony emerged during the corruption and money laundering trial of former Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, which includes allegations involving defence contractor Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu and the Umkhombe Marine matter.
Sizane told the court that he had been stationed in London in 2014 before returning to South Africa. He said he had concerns about corruption and wanted the Umkhombe Marine matter to be investigated further after he believed that little had been done about it.
He said he had raised the matter with General Solly Shoke on several occasions.
Asked about his position on corruption, Sizane said: “Like any other South African, I fight corruption.”
The court also heard that General Shoke had received information from a whistleblower concerning the chartered flight and its documentation. Shoke subsequently passed the information to Sizane.
Sizane said that, after examining the documents, he wanted those responsible to be held accountable through the military police.
He was questioned by the prosecutor about why the documentation had concerned him and explained that he expected action to be taken against those responsible.
Sizane said that approximately three months after the matter had been raised, he followed up to establish what had happened.
He explained that information about the flight was already available in the minutes of a meeting, which led him to expect that the matter would have been addressed.
However, he said he became concerned when no action appeared to have been taken.
Sizane also explained why he did not conduct a separate investigation into the chartered flight.
“I did not see any reason to investigate something that was already being investigated by the military crime intelligence,” Sizane told the court.