Arms Deal committee fails to table its 2013 annual report in Parliament

Chairperson of the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC), Jeff Radebe, must explain why the committee failed to comply with the deadline for tabling the 2013 National Conventional Arms Control Committee Annual Report in Parliament.

The annual report should have been tabled, in terms of the National Conventional Arms Control Act (No. 41 of 2002), by 31 March 2014. However, the NCACC failed to comply with the deadline and the 2013 National Conventional Arms Control Committee Annual Report has not been tabled in Parliament.

This would have been the first annual report tabled, in terms of the National Conventional Arms Control Amendment Act (No. 73 of 2008), and would have contained information about conventional arms sales never before disclosed to Parliament.

Most importantly the annual report would have contained detailed information about the type, description and quantity of each conventional arms sale authorised by the NCACC between 01 January 2013 and 31 December 2013.

In the past, NCACC chairperson Jeff Radebe has been careful to ensure that previous annual reports have been tabled before the deadline in Parliament.

The 2012 National Conventional Arms Control Committee Annual Report, which contained details of R10 billion worth of conventional arms sales to 89 countries, was, for example, tabled on 15 March 2013.

That the annual report has not been tabled could be interpreted as an attempt to cover up the details of conventional arms sales in order to prevent another arms deal scandal in the run up to Election 2014.

Given the fact that in the past there have been several dodgy conventional arms sales authorised, it is imperative that the NCACC's 2013 annual report be tabled in Parliament.

I will, therefore, write to Jeff Radebe, Chairperson of the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC), requesting him to: 

• Explain why the committee failed to comply with the deadline for tabling the 2013 National Conventional Arms Control Committee Annual Report in Parliament;
• When the 2013 National Conventional Arms Control Committee Annual Report will be tabled in Parliament; and
• What action will be taken against any persons found to be responsible for failing to table the 2013 National Conventional Arms Control Committee Annual Report.

Statement issued by David Maynier MP, DA Shadow Minister of Defence & Military Veterans, April 1 2014

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