‘I felt betrayed’: Mapisa‑Nqakula breaks silence on 2020 Zimbabwe SANDF flight

How the trip came about

Mapisa‑Nqakula described the mission as an official engagement to meet her Zimbabwean counterpart on regional security issues. She told the African Renaissance Podcast that she was approached by a senior ANC figure sent by Ramaphosa to ask her to join the delegation. She said she agreed to travel because the ANC needed to consult Zimbabwe’s ruling party, Zanu‑PF, amid unrest in that country.

Why a SANDF aircraft was used

She said South Africa was under Level 5 Covid‑19 restrictions at the time and that no commercial flights were operating, leaving the SANDF aircraft as the only practical option. She also said Zimbabwe had proposed holding the meeting in the Kruger National Park, but that Ramaphosa insisted the delegation travel to Zimbabwe.

Her conditions for travel

Mapisa‑Nqakula said she agreed to go only if the full ANC delegation could travel with her on the defence force aircraft, because she would not leave the rest of the delegation behind. She said she informed Ramaphosa before departure and that he helped secure landing clearance from Zimbabwean authorities, including intervention by Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Immediate fallout and investigation

On her return to South Africa, Mapisa‑Nqakula said she was surprised to find media reports portraying her as a rogue minister. She said the next day Ramaphosa issued a public statement giving her 48 hours to explain the use of the SANDF aircraft. She said she called Ramaphosa and the chief of the SANDF and told the president,

“Mr President, I didn’t go to Zimbabwe on a jolly ride,”

and that Ramaphosa acknowledged concerns about the statement’s wording and blamed “overzealous” advisers.

Mapisa‑Nqakula said she chose not to publicly contradict the president because she feared creating a constitutional crisis for the ANC. The matter was later investigated by the Public Protector, who ruled against her. She was docked three months’ salary and was removed as defence minister in August 2021 when Ramaphosa reshuffled his Cabinet, replacing her with Thandi Modise.

ANC reimbursement and aftermath

She said the Presidency instructed that the ANC reimburse the state for the flight costs. Mapisa‑Nqakula said the ANC, under then‑treasurer‑general Paul Mashatile, paid about R140,000 to the SANDF after costs were calculated. She also said she later addressed ANC NEC members ahead of the party’s 2022 elective conference and that Fikile Mbalula told NEC members he had been unaware of the full circumstances surrounding the trip.

How she feels now

Mapisa‑Nqakula said she had kept quiet for years “to protect my movement” but now feels she was unfairly portrayed and let down by the party leadership.

“I felt so used by my organisation,”

she said.

Related reflections

She also reflected on the July 2021 unrest in KwaZulu‑Natal and Gauteng, defending the SANDF deployment after consultations between Ramaphosa and political parties and saying that “on day one of the deployment of the Defence Force, everything just came to a standstill.” She added that she believed the unrest involved “pockets of counter‑revolution” but did not describe it as a full insurrection against the state.