DA calls on Auditor General to investigate Denel’s R855 million job-killing blunder
Weekend media reports that state-owned arms manufacturer Denel has exhausted its cash reserves on the ill-thought acquisition of vehicle manufacturer BAE Land Systems SA mean that the jobs of thousands of employees, who Denel can now not afford to pay, are at serious risk.
I will be writing to the Auditor General (AG) to commission an investigation into Denel’s financial disarray.
Denel reportedly owes its contractors millions due to the dubious R855 million acquisition of the company, which produces landmine-resistant vehicles for which there is little demand. Supplier firms which have not received payment for their supplies in recent months will soon start retrenching people.
The AG must intervene, firstly in the interests of transparency, so that the full extent of Denel’s debt crisis can be ascertained.