South Africa’s R2.4 Billion SANDF Charter Flight Spending

Defence Minister Angie Motshekga says the flights supported military and emergency needs, but detailed figures on flights and suppliers remain outstanding.

WorldOctober 6, 20263 min readHow Sureno writes this

The short version

South Africa’s defence department reported spending R2,395,521,275 on SANDF chartered flights over the five financial years from 2021/2022 to 2025/2026. ³
Motshekga said charter flights were used for purposes including remote-area access, medical evacuations, peacekeeping, disaster relief, training and urgent deployments. ²³
The minister did not provide the detailed flight-by-flight and procurement breakdown requested by MPs. ¹³
The reported total includes a R540,000 discrepancy that MPs are awaiting an explanation for. ¹

How much did South Africa spend on SANDF charter flights?

The Department of Defence and Military Veterans reported spending R2,395,521,275 on chartered flights for the South African National Defence Force over the 2021/2022 to 2025/2026 financial years. That is about R2.4 billion across five years. ³

The SANDF is South Africa’s armed forces. The available reporting gives the five-year total, but does not provide a complete, detailed account of each flight and its cost. ³⁴

Why did the SANDF use private chartered planes?

Motshekga said charter flights were used when commercial airlines could not meet the need or were not available. She cited access to remote areas, medical evacuations, peacekeeping and regional missions, disaster relief, VIP transport, military training and urgent troop deployments. ²³

She also referred to sensitive security movements for critical military operations. These are the department’s stated reasons; the reporting provided does not show how much of the total was spent on each purpose. ²

Who received the charter-flight money?

That remains a central unanswered question in the reports. News24 reported that Motshekga had repeatedly declined to name the companies paid from the R2.4 billion, while MPs were seeking detailed procurement figures. ¹

The department said aircraft were obtained through standard travel-management processes, supply-chain deviations and emergency or operational procurement, depending on the need. That description does not identify the suppliers or show how much each received. ³

What details are still missing from the spending account?

The Democratic Alliance requested an item-by-item breakdown, including annual flight numbers and lists of procurement deviations above R1 million, R5 million or R10 million. Motshekga did not provide those details, according to TimesLIVE. ³

She said internal records were being reconciled to avoid counting a flight more than once when it served multiple purposes. News24 also reported that MPs were waiting for an explanation of a R540,000 discrepancy. The supplied reporting does not explain what caused that difference. ¹³

What does this mean for the public?

The reported total establishes the scale of the spending, and the minister has set out broad reasons for using charter aircraft. But without supplier names and a detailed breakdown of flights, costs and procurement decisions, readers cannot use these reports alone to assess how the full amount was allocated. ¹²³

The available sources describe questions raised about transparency and accuracy; they do not establish that the spending was improper. More detail from the department or further parliamentary answers would be needed to clarify the outstanding figures and decisions. ¹³

What we don't know yet

Which companies received payments, and how much each was paid. ¹
How many flights took place each year and their item-by-item costs. ³
What caused the reported R540,000 discrepancy. ¹
How spending was divided among military, medical, emergency and other purposes. ²³

Get this every day, on every new tab

Sureno Browser brings the day's stories, explained simply, to your start page.

Get Sureno for Mac

Questions people ask

How much did the SANDF spend on chartered flights?

The department reported spending R2,395,521,275 over the 2021/2022 to 2025/2026 financial years, about R2.4 billion in total. ³

Why did the SANDF need charter flights?

Motshekga said they were used when commercial flights were unsuitable or unavailable, including for remote-area access, medical evacuations, peacekeeping, disaster relief, training and urgent deployments. ²³

Which companies were paid for SANDF charter flights?

The reports provided do not name the companies paid. News24 reported that MPs were still seeking supplier and procurement details. ¹

Has the government explained the R540,000 discrepancy?

The available News24 report says MPs were still waiting for an explanation of a R540,000 discrepancy. It does not state what caused it. ¹

Did Motshekga provide a full breakdown of the flights?

No full item-by-item breakdown was provided in the account reported by TimesLIVE. The requested details included annual flight numbers and lists of certain procurement deviations; the department said it was reconciling records to avoid double-counting. ³

Sources

Motshekga won’t say who got R2.4bn for SANDF charter flights | News24 — News24
SANDF spent R2.4bln on private chartered planes in 5 years: Motshekga - SABC News - Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all… — SABC News - Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa\'s news leader., 2026-10-04
Motshekga under fire over R2.4bn SANDF charter flight bill — TimesLIVE
South African National Defence Force — Wikipedia

Free tools for this

They run in your browser. Nothing is uploaded and there is nothing to sign up for.

Fuel cost calculatorWhat a trip costs in petrol or gas.Electricity costWhat an appliance costs to run.