The Democratic Alliance (DA) accused the African National Congress (ANC) of trying to intimidate Member of Parliament (MP) David Maynier for exposing arms sales to "repressive" regimes by calling for his removal from the Portfolio Committee on Defence on Wednesday.

The DA vowed that Maynier would remain on the Committee because it was up to political parties to appoint their representatives.

"The ANC's move ... is an attempt to intimidate him into stopping his enquiry into South Africa's dodgy arms deals with some of the most repressive regimes in the world," the party said.

"The fact is that members of portfolio committees are appointed by political parties, and therefore Maynier will continue to serve on the portfolio committee where we expect him to continue to ask the hard questions and get to the bottom of the dodgy arms deals."

The party was responding to a statement by ANC chief whip Mathole Motshekga that he planned to ask Speaker Max Sisulu to expel Maynier for revealing classified information on pending arms deals.

The ANC did not deny the information.

Motshekga said though Maynier may not have breached any Parliamentary rules, he had broken the law, compromised national security and become "a liability" to the committee.

Maynier has led a campaign to force the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) to disclose details of what he terms "ten dodgy arms deals" with nations like Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

He also claims that a South African weapons company may have tried to violate an arms embargo against Iran by importing aviator G-suits made in a third country and passing these on to the Islamic republic.

He has repeatedly refused to reveal his sources.

Maynier tried in vain on Wednesday morning to get Justice Minister and NCACC chairperson Jeff Radebe to disclose details of South Africa's arms sales of R5,8-billion last year that included deals with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

He said Radebe was stonewalling, because he had no "reasonable and justifiable grounds not to disclose the information".

Shortly afterwards Motshekga issued a media statement calling for his removal.

A report by the parliamentary law adviser commissioned earlier this month found that Maynier had committed a crime by releasing classified information obtained illegally.

"Such information should not be made public as it may prejudice the decision-making process of the NCACC," it said.

"Anyone found guilty of this offence by a court of law can face an imprisonment of up to 20 years."

The law adviser found that because Maynier revealed the information at a press conference, and not in Parliament, he did not enjoy parliamentary privilege and had hence broken the law.

A separate report, the State legal adviser disagreed, saying it was unclear whether he had fallen foul of Parliamentary rules or the law.

"In order to determine whether Maynier may either have committed an offence in terms of the National Conventional Arms Control Act No. 41 of 2002, or breached the rules of the National Assembly, an investigation would have to be carried out."

But Motshekga said Maynier had in any case acted in a manner "unbecoming" a member of a committee in the security cluster.

"Maynier's failure to take into consideration the potential danger his action posed to the national security makes him a liability rather than an asset to the portfolio committee.

"In this regard, the Office of the Chief Whip will recommend to the Speaker of the National Assembly that Maynier be removed from the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans with immediate effect."