Dear Editor
The DA notes Minister of Defence Angie Motshekga’s statement, which admits that she is failing to account to Parliament for the serious problems within the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
The DA has repeatedly been calling on the Minister of Defence to account to Parliament over the deadly DRC deployment, but the Minister continues to give Parliament the cold shoulder. This is made worse by the fact that the ANC Chairpersons for the Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) have failed to call on the Minister to account for the missing R813 million meant for troop allowance. The DA has been compelled to escalate this matter to the Chairperson of the House of Parliament.
Whilst the DA awaits a response from the House Chairpersons of Parliament, Minister Motshekga has now confirmed what we already know: she is unrealistic – and so are her priorities.
Motshekga has hailed the deadly DRC deployment, which cost the lives of 14 South African soldiers, a “success”. This, despite rebels still holding key territory, and our troops returning home unpaid and lied to about allowances. Despite R813million paid to the Department of Defence – specifically for compensation – last year, the DA’s request for the Minister and the Department to appear before the JSCD has been blocked by its chairpersons.
Motshekga now claims she could not attend a critical JSCD meeting about the soldiers’ withdrawal from the DRC because she was “in Berlin at a UN meeting”. This version differs from an oral answer she gave in the National Council of Provinces earlier this year. The reality is that instead of flying back to South Africa after the Ministerial Conference, she flew to Russia to attend a military parade. All this while our brave men and women fearlessly defended the ANC’s regional ambitions, which were stuck. This is hardly the hallmark of a Minister serious about oversight or troop welfare.
This is not a once-off absence. Motshekga infrequently attends meetings, and now she’s being shielded from scrutiny by ANC Co-Chair Malusi Gigaba, who pulled a stunning U-turn – after promising to write to the Minister about the troop allowance – and instead blocked the Committee from acting.
Motshekga and Gigaba believe this does not deserve urgent accountability before Parliament. The DA finds it ironic that the Minister now accuses others of “distorting the truth” when she missed a virtual meeting on the troop withdrawal, held at 09:00 in the morning, because she preferred attending a parade.
Minister Motshekga’s absence is not just a scheduling issue – it is a dereliction of duty.
The DA has written to Parliament’s Presiding Officers to demand that the JSCD Co-Chairpersons immediately convene a meeting where the Minister can finally be forced to account and get to the bottom of what happened to the missing R813 million.
Until then, no amount of press statements, parades, or grandstanding can distract from the fact that the real crisis lies not in what the Minister says – but in what she refuses to explain.
Regards
Nicholas Gotsell MP
DA NCOP Member on Security & Justice