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Johannesburg - President Jacob Zuma's executive using a Gupta-family plane for an official state visit shows their arrogance and immunity to any accountability, the EFF said on Thursday.
In a statement, acting spokesperson Lehlohonolo Mokoena said they were deeply concerned by such arrogance and the corrupt dynamic between the executive and the Gupta family.
On Wednesday, it was reported an official delegation led by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, and which included cabinet ministers, had flown to Japan in a plane owned by the Gupta family.
The defence department hired the Bombardier Aerospace plane through a state-managed contract with service provider ExecuJet.
The Bombardier Aerospace, with registration ZS-OAK, left Waterkloof Air Force Base last Friday night under the call sign "South Africa 2", reserved for the deputy president.
Ramaphosa was then photographed arriving in Tokyo in the aircraft on Saturday night.
According to EWN, the plane is registered to Westdawn Investments, which is owned by the Gupta family.
President Jacob Zuma's son Duduzane is a director at the company.
'Lavish lifestyles'
Mokoena said this meant Zuma's family is benefiting directly from "shoddy business dealings" between the state and those willingly financing the "lavish lifestyle" of the president and his family.
"As the EFF, we have as a matter of urgency written a question for written reply to both the Minister of Defence and the Minister of Finance, seeking clarity on whether proper procurement processes were followed in granting the contract to a company owned by the friends of the president and his son," he said.
"We abhor the flourishing normalisation of corruption under President Zuma, wherein those close to the president and to the ANC get huge government contracts under questionable circumstances."
The EFF called on the state institutions guarding South Africa's democracy to investigate urgently "the hold the Gupta family has over President Zuma".
