Phumzile 'did not abuse power'

2006-01-17 15:49

Pretoria - Presidential spokesperson Murphy Morobe has rejected assertions that the deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka's trip to the United Arab Emirates amounted to an abuse of power.

"It is preposterous to say that she abused her power. It can't be considered an abuse that she took a friend on the trip to find out about projects she was interested in."

Morobe, addressing a press conference at the Union Buildings in Pretoria but beamed to Cape Town, confirmed that welfare minister Zola Skweyiya's wife Thuthukile Mazibuko-Skweyiya had been on board the flight to Abu Dhabi.

Morobe said Thuthukile Mazibuko-Skweyiya went along because she was voluntarily involved in growth initiatives in South Africa.

He said the deputy president had decided to use her state-funded trip to learn from the growth and women empowerment projects of the UAE.

Mlambo-Ngcuka regarded Mazibuko-Skweyiya as "the right person" to take along, Morobe told reporters in Pretoria.

Mlambo-Ngcuka also took along her husband Bulelani, their two children, and a personal assistant who travelled separately. The assistant's two children travelled with Mlambo-Ngcuka.

Morobe said: "It needs to be said that in no respects did the deputy president - although she did not take the decision regarding the modalities of travel to Abu Dhabi - infringe any law, regulation, or policy prescript."

As with all trips by the president and his deputy the state had paid for the provision of transport, security and associated costs, irrespective of whether they were on official or private travel.

Morobe said the emir of the UAE had paid for Mlambo-Ngcuka and her party's accommodation, transport and incidental costs.

- SAPA