It’s ludicrous that the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, refuses to disclose any information about new arms deals to Parliament.

The Minister has refused point blank to disclose any information about the project names, items being acquired or budgets for the armaments acquisition programmes being implemented under the Strategic Capital Acquisition Master Plan claiming :

“All information requested in terms of the Strategic Capital Acquisition Master Plan is considered confidential. Furthermore, all project financial information is considered confidential and not open to the public domain.”

The Minister’s reply is ludicrous.

The Defence Department’s own White Paper on National Defence for the Republic of South Africa (1996) requires the Department to:

• “publish an annual Acquisition Master Plan to indicate all new acquisition projects required for political approval from the minister and to inform the Joint Standing Committee on Defence”; and
• “publish a medium-to-long-term Defence Requirements Statement to guide long-term technology and industrial planning”.

Moreover, the Defence Department has, in the past, replied  to parliamentary questions about the armaments acquisition programmes being implemented under the Strategic Capital Acquisition Master Programme.

However, what makes the Minister’s reply especially ludicrous is the fact that there is a considerable amount of information on the various capital acquisition programmes readily available online on Google.

A Google search reveals that there are:

• At least 40 “hits” on Google for “Project Hoefyster” which is the project to acquire new infantry fighting vehicles for the South African Army.
• At least 20 “hits” on Google for “Project Saucepan” which is the project to acquire new maritime surveillance aircraft for the South African Air Force.
• At least 20 “hits” on Google for “Project Biro” which is the project to acquire offshore patrol vessels for the South African Navy.

The Google Search also reveals that the Secretary of Defence, Sam Gulube, himself briefed the media about “Project Hoefyster”.

It is inexplicable that the Minister will not disclose information about armaments acquisition much of which is already in the public domain.

It is symptomatic of the new paranoia spreading like an oil slick in government under President Jacob Zuma.

That is why I have submitted a Private Members Bill, amending the Defence Act (No. 42 of 2002), in order to compel the Defence Department to:

• table quarterly reports on all armament acquisition programmes in Parliament; and
• table ad hoc reports on all armaments acquisition programmes where there are (1) cost overruns of more than 15% and (2) schedule slips of more than 6 months.

We cannot allow the situation to continue were we are spending billions of rands every year on arms deals and Parliament is kept in the dark.