Defence Minister refuses to reply to parliamentary questions and General Solly Shoke's international travel expenses

10 November 2014

The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, is trying to shield the Chief of the Defence Force, General Solly Shoke, from a full blown travel expense scandal in Parliament.

Without bothering to provide an explanation, the Minister refused to reply to written parliamentary questions, transferred to the oral question paper, in accordance with National Assembly 117(1), for reply on 05 November 2014.

The questions probed, inter alia, possible:

Excessive expenditure on General Shoke's trip to attend the Defence Service Asia Exhibition in Malaysia between 12 April 2014 and 18 April 2014; and

Excessive expenditure on General Solly Shoke's international travel between 2011 and 2014.

The Minister's failure to reply is a clear breach of National Assembly Rule 114, which required her to provide written replies by 12:00 on Thursday 06 November 2014.

The probe into General Solly Shoke's international travel expenses arose as a result of allegations that more than R100 000 had been spent on flights, including a first class Emirates Airlines flight between Kuala Lumpur and Dubai, for a trip to Defence Service Asia Exhibition in Malaysia between 12 April 2014 and 18 April 2014.

General Solly Shoke should be leading belt-tightening measures in the Defence Force.

However, all the evidence suggests that he is resisting belt-tightening measures in the Defence Force.

Dr Sam Gulube, the Secretary of Defence, for example, applied for a deviation from cost containment measures, earlier this year, to allow General Solly Shoke to be accompanied by two staff members, both traveling business class, for "efficiency and security reasons".

The Minister is clearly trying to protect General Solly Shoke from a full blown expense scandal.

However, the Minister is sorely  mistaken if she thinks General Solly Shoke is "above" scrutiny by Parliament.

I will, therefore, be writing to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Baleka Mbete, requesting her to compel the Minister to reply to my parliamentary questions on General Shoke's international travel expenses between 2011 and 2014.

In the end, it's simply wrong, for General Solly Shoke to spend a fortune in international travel when ordinary soldiers, serving on the frontline, do not have the equipment they require to properly execute their mission because of budget constraints.

Statement issued by David Maynier MP, DA Shadow Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, November 10 2014

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