Sisulu and Parliament: Damage Control plan urgently needed

The Democratic Alliance (DA) believes that Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe - in his capacity as Leader of Government Business in Parliament - should now intervene in the political battle between Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Lindiwe Sisulu, and Parliament.

The minister is currently involved in what amounts to a "Mexican-standoff" with the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans.

The minister hit back at the portfolio committee on defence and military veterans with a document that reads less like a legal opinion than a full scale political assault on Parliament. The document reportedly states that "any portfolio committee foolish enough to issue a summons to a minister on a matter of executive privilege will be met with an iron-clad claim of executive privilege".

The standoff between the minister and the portfolio committee on the release of the interim reports of the national defence force service commission is symptomatic of a larger "accountability crisis". The fact is that the minister has consistently resisted being properly accountable to Parliament.

The DA therefore calls on Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe to intervene and to ensure that Minister Sisulu rolls out a damage control plan in Parliament.

• The damage control plan should include the minister:
• announcing a date for the briefing by General Godfrey Ngwenya, Chief of the South African National Defence Force, on the combat readiness of the defence force;
• announcing a date when the minister and the defence department will meet and properly account to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts;
• releasing the interim reports of the National Defence Force Service Commission;
• releasing the reports of the Ministerial Task Team on Military Veterans;
• making a commitment to both reply and provide proper answers to parliamentary questions; and
• appointing a "fit for purpose" person in the ministry of defence and military veterans to properly deal with correspondence, defence force related complaints and access to information requests which hardly ever receive a response.

This will go a long way to building up confidence and breaking down distrust in Parliament. This is in the end what is in the best interests of the men and women who serve in the defence force.

Statement issued by David Maynier, MP, Democratic Alliance Shadow Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, August 1 2010

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