Dear Editor
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will fight President Cyril Ramaphosa’s plan to hide from the public the report into alleged weapons smuggling to Russia.
According to news reports, Ramaphosa intends to classify the report of the inquiry into whether arms were loaded onto the Russian Lady R in Simon’s Town last December.
The Presidency has also indicated that the investigation’s terms of reference will not be made public.
Hiding the truth about the ANC government’s alleged involvement in smuggling arms to Russia will lead to further economic suffering. Investors will shun South Africa, the Rand will fall further as inflation spirals, and 100 000 jobs could be lost if we are kicked out of the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA).
To protect South Africans from the economic fallout of Ramaphosa’s planned coverup, the DA will not leave this secrecy unchallenged. We have already submitted an application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to obtain a copy of the panel’s terms of reference. And we are obtaining legal advice to challenge Ramaphosa’s plan to hide the report once it is complete.
Hiding this report from public view will rob the people of South Africa – and of the world – from the opportunity to see the full facts of this matter.
Refusing to disclose the complete picture of how the ANC-led government allegedly smuggled weapons to arm Russia’s war in Ukraine and various parts of Africa will also undermine the very purpose of the investigation.
When he announced the establisment of the inquiry – which only came after six months of delay and obfuscation – Ramaphosa conceded that he “decided to establish the enquiry because of the seriousness of the allegations, the extent of public interest and the impact of this matter on South Africa’s international relations.”
However, hiding the findings of the report will only further damage South Africa’s international standing, as it will create legitimate fears of a coverup. The fact that Ramaphosa has suddenly announced his intention to hide the report from the public suggests that he has already become aware of incriminating information that he wants to hide from public view to protect his ANC government.
The stench of a coverup to protect the ANC and help the Russians will make it even more likely that South Africa is kicked out of the AGOA trade agreement with the United States.
Only full and complete disclosure about the extent of the government’s involvement in arming the Russian war effort , and genuine accountability for all involved, will give us a fighting chance to save AGOA. This is why the DA will force full disclosure and accountability through the courts if needs be.
When he established the panel, Ramaphosa also said that it “will evaluate whether constitutional, legal or other obligations were complied with in relation to the cargo ship’s arrival, its stay, the loading or off-loading of its contents, and its departure.”
Hiding the panel’s findings will completely undermine the ability of prosecutors and the public to hold guilty parties accountable for any such violations of the law.
It is patently clear that Ramaphosa intends to hide the facts surrounding the Lady R’s docking from the people of South Africa to protect ANC cadres and Russian comrades.
The only logical reason for his sudden turn to secrecy is that Ramaphosa has realised that the report will confirm his government’s role in arming war criminals. Hiding the truth to protect the ANC at the expense, once again, of the people of South Africa, would amount to a violation of his oath of office.
The DA will hold him to account.
Regards
John Steenhuisen MP
Leader of the Democratic Alliance
Trash Master
Turkey: You have two cows. One of them gets arrested on charges of directing his methane at Erdogan\’s palace at the behest of the parallel state.
Snow Cream
Van is getting married, but he and his fiancee have never done the deed – in fact he\’s never been with any woman before. He\’s getting more and more nervous as the big day approaches, so he confides in his friend. His friend says \’No worries man. I\’ll come by the honeymoon suite before you guys get there, and I\’ll hide behind the curtain, and I\’ll whisper instructions to you.\’
\’You\’d do that for me?\’
\’Sure thing man!\’
So the wedding day arrives, it was a lovely service (so I was told, I wasn\’t there myself) and Van\’s friend sneaks into the honeymoon suite as promised and hides behind the curtain.
Van and his new wife arrive in the room, get settled on the bed, and things are getting steamy.
But Van is still super nervous and his tummy is bubbling, so he murmers to his wife, \’Listen babe, I\’m just gonna go to the bathroom quick. I think it\’s that wors roll from earlier.\’
\’Sure thing babe.\’
So Van goes into the bathroom, and he\’s taking quite a long time. And his wife is starting to feel the nerves herself. And it\’s getting worse. She can\’t hold it in. But she doesn\’t want to go after he\’s gone and totally ruin the mood. So she looks around and finally finds a shoebox. Quickly, she does her business in the shoebox, and she shoves it under the bed just as Van comes back from the loo.
Van gets back on the bed and they go at it again. But after a minute or so Van smells something not so lekker.
\’What\’s that smell?\’
\’Nothing babe,\’ he wife tries to assure him.
\’No man there\’s definitely something not so lekker in this room!\’VSo Van starts looking around the room, in the corners, in the cupboard, and finally he looks under the bed, and sees the shoebox.
He pull it out, and opens it up, and in horror he shouts \’Sies! Daar\’s kak in hierdie doos!\’
And from behind the curtain his friend yells, \’NEE MAN, DRAAI HAAR OM!\”