According to reports, the Parliamentary oversight committee on Defence and Military Veterans is to consider this Wednesday the allegations concerning the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC), which the Democratic Alliance (DA) made public earlier this month, with a view to investigating my conduct and the ANC's allegation that the DA revealed "stolen" information we were not authorised to be in possession of.

(The details of the DA's allegations can be found here.)

There are, however, no credible grounds for any such investigation. Despite much angry rhetoric and many counter-accusations from the committee chairperson and Minister Jeff Radebe all the information made public, in response to the DA's allegations, confirms and does not refute what the DA stated.

The various inherent contradictions which underlie the ANC's response to this matter, suggest that, were any such investigation to take place, it would be nothing more than a witch hunt, as opposed to a legitimate enquiry (one wishes the ANC would show the same kind of vigour when it comes to investigating the first Arms Deal) and there is every indication the ANC is more concerned with investigating me, than it is with dealing with the substantive evidence now before the public.

In this regard, there are two critical points which need to be made:

• First, Minister Jeff Radebe's response to the DA's allegations (in his capacity as Chairperson of the NCACC) confirms what the DA alleged. His press statement confirms that the ANC government is either exhibiting, selling or has sold arms to a number countries with dubious human rights records, several involved in regional conflicts and a great many under the undemocratic rule of a dictator. He was unapologetic for this, but the facts speak for themselves.
• Second, if the details of the various arms deals the DA reported on are not allowed to be made public, as Mr Booi alleges, why was the Minister prepared to discuss them before the press? Surely his response should have been that these matters are strictly confidential? The answer is, because they are quite clearly in the public interest - something the Minister was forced to recognise; it is disappointing that the Chairperson of an oversight committee is unable to recognise the same thing.

Actually, Mr Booi's own accusation gives the game away: after the DA's press conference, he accused the DA of effectively "stealing" nothing more than "gossip and rumour". Quite how one steals gossip and rumour I am not sure. On the one hand, if you steal something, presumably it is real and tangible; on the other hand, if it is merely "rumour", then it how do you steal it in the first place?

The fact of the matter is, the ANC government is doing dodgy arms deals with undemocratic countries. That information was being kept from the public and the DA acted, correctly I believe, to explain to the South African public what its elected government was doing. The NCACC has since confirmed what the DA alleged. The ANC might not like that, but it could have avoided the whole problem by adopting a more principled and transparent position on arms sales in the first place.

There is one final and important point to make: the ANC in general and the Chairperson of the oversight committee in particular are welcome to get out the thumbscrews but the Democratic Alliance will not, under any circumstances, reveal the sources of this information.

Statement issued by David Maynier, MP, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of defence and military veterans, August 10 2009

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