JOHANNESBURG - The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Lindiwe Sisulu, is famously truculent when it comes to comes to answering questions from opposition parties in parliament. On Monday Parliament issued a series of replies which contained a number of gems of surliness and sarcasm. For instance the FF Plus MP Pieter Groenewald asked Sisulu "why is the submarine SAS 101: Manthatisi currently being refurbished in the dry dock?" to which the Minister replied: "Where else would the Honourable Member suggest we should refurbish a submarine?" Other questions elicited the following replies:

• "This is very detailed information, which is usually given by the Director-General to the Portfolio Committee.  I am certain the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans should be able to arrange this."

• "The Department of Military Veterans has not yet been launched.  Perhaps the Honourable Member got his facts mixed up."

• "This question has been dealt with extensively on numerous occasions in meetings with the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans.  I can not understand what the Honourable Member is hoping to get out of this."

• "In terms of the White Paper on Defence, the Joint Standing Committee on Defence and Military Veterans has the mandate to oversee precisely these matters.  The Honourable Member is advised to contact the said Committee for access to this information."

• "The Honourable Member is advised to refer this question to the Joint Standing Committee on Defence, whose mandate it is to look into all such matters that are, as the Honourable Member so well knows, CLASSIFIED."

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