Row Looms Over Closed Briefing On Dodgy Arms Sales

A confrontation is on the cards tomorrow if Parliament's defence committee proceeds with a "closed" meeting to discuss alleged "dodgy" arms deals approved by the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC). This follows the publication in parliamentary papers of a notice announcing that committee chairman Jeff Radebe , who is also justice minister, would brief the committee on arms sales behind closed doors. His attendance at the committee follows the publication last month by the Democratic Alliance (DA) of details of arms sales to repressive regimes.

The weekend press quoted African National Congress chairman of the defence committee Nyamezeli Booi as saying the decision to make the meeting closed was taken after consultation with committee members. DA defence spokesman David Maynier denied this, saying he was never canvassed on the issue. Maynier said the decision to let Radebe appear before the portfolio committee on defence and military veterans "in secret is a deliberate attempt to cover up the truth about dodgy arms deals with some of the most repressive regimes in the world. The public have a right to know how it was that we sold, attempted to sell or demonstrated and exhibited conventional arms in states such as Iran, Libya, Syria, North Korea and Zimbabwe, despite legislation aimed at ensuring that we do not trade in conventional arms with states engaged in repression, aggression and terrorism. The NCACC should therefore be held to account in an open and transparent meeting by members of the portfolio committee on defence and military veterans."

Support for the DA's position came independently from the Institute for Democracy (Idasa).The head of Idasa's political monitoring service, Judith February, wrote to Booi, pointing out that the constitution required the National Assembly to facilitate public involvement in the legislative and other processes of Parliament, and hold sittings of committees in public. The public and media could be excluded only when reasonable and justifiable. February noted that the NCACC was required by law to report quarterly to Parliament and to the public on the types of weapons sold and to whom, and, asked Booi, why it had been decided to close the meeting. She copied the letter to National Assembly speaker Max Sisulu.

Maynier said he too had written to Booi, asking who had decided that the meeting should be closed. "The facts about the trade in conventional arms and the dodgy arms deals must not be swept under the parliamentary carpet."

Source: All Africa