The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Lindiwe Sisulu, is on flimsy constitutional ground in deciding to "absent" herself from the proceedings of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa).

The fact is that the buck stops with the minister and she can be summoned and compelled to appear before Scopa.

The minister's political tantrum at yesterday's meeting of the portfolio committee on defence and military veterans included the claim that it was a "misconception" that ministers could be summoned to appear before a committee of Parliament.

The Constitution is clear: in terms of Section 56 (a) any committee of the National Assembly - which includes Scopa - may "summon any person to appear before it to give evidence on oath or affirmation, or to produce documents".

Moreover, a person who fails to appear can be compelled to appear in terms of Section 14 of the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act (No. 4 of 2004).

The minister now runs the risk of being summoned to appear before Scopa. However, this is a very drastic step, and we would urge the minister to appear voluntarily before Scopa.

The fact is that the defence department is in a huge mess - the report on the department's asset register comprises of ten blank pages - and we need to be assured that there are plans in place to sort it out.

We cannot allow the minister to ride roughshod over parliament and simply boycott being accountable to Scopa.

Statement issued by Mark Steele, MP, Democratic Alliance spokesperson on public accounts, and David Maynier, MP, DA shadow minister of defence and military veterans, April 23 2010

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