APA-Johannesburg (South Africa) There is controversy brewing over a million-dollar upgrade of the Bisho Airport in South Africa by the president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, APA learnt on Tuesday.
The UAE ruler and his family allegedly landed without any security clearance in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province on April 19 on a R20 million (about US$1.1 million) runway he reportedly built using his own money.
It is reported the wealthy president landed quietly along with an entourage of 500, including other members of the UAE royal family, staff and top artists who were expected to perform for the family to mark the end of Ramadan.
The opposition African Transformation Movement (ATM) expressed concern at landing of the UAE entourage and said it had written to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa seeking clarity on a number of issues.
These included the type of goods offloaded at the airport and the number of assault weapons offloaded as well, ATM spokesperson Zama Ntshona said.
“The ATM was taken aback when the media reports exposed that the president of the UAE not only landed at the Bisho Airport in the Eastern Cape, but also upgraded the airport to the tune of R20 million,” Ntshona said.
He said this was similar to the 2013 Waterkloof Military Airport scandal where the controversial Gupta family landed at the key security facility unlawfully with a plane full of wedding guests.
“However, this time around the magnitude of the saga is 10 times larger,” he said.
The Public Service Commission in the Eastern Cape has confirmed that the costs of refurbishing the Bisho Airport runway were paid for by the UAE but denied they amounted to R20 million.
The commission said it conducted a fact-finding inspection at the airport following the controversy surrounding the UAE leader’s visit.
Commissioner Lulu Sizani said they had found nothing untoward about the landing of the entourage at the airport.
“We were told that they had to pay because we do not use the airport ourselves,” the commissioner said, adding that the facility belonged to the Ministry of Transport.
NM/jn/APA