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ActionSA expresses outrage following a briefing by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) before Parliament, revealing egregious levels of corruption, mismanagement and wasteful expenditure that have turned Denel into a cesspool of incompetence and theft, leaving this critical national security asset defunct. 

Over the past five financial years, taxpayers have forked out nearly R9 billion in bailouts to what was once South Africa’s premier state-owned aerospace and military technology company.

Shockingly, while hardworking taxpayers' funds were being poured into Denel’s supposed ‘turnaround’, the company has simultaneously succumbed to unconfined corruption, mismanagement and is on the brink of collapse, posing a direct threat to our national security.

Beyond a series of corrupt procurement practices, the most shocking revelation from the SIU’s briefing is its confirmation of the treasonous misappropriation of sensitive missile intellectual property belonging to South Africa, which was nefariously used to aid foreign state-owned companies.

ActionSA condemns the fact that, despite these clear failures, Government has failed to stop the flow of unaccounted for bailouts to Denel, continuing to feed the monster with taxpayer money despite no demonstrable improvements and the company’s failure to meet the conditions attached to the bailouts.

As South Africans grapple with the tragic loss of 13 soldiers in the DRC, fighting a war that is not ours under dire resource constraints, leaving our troops under-equipped and outgunned, it is utterly unconscionable that Denel has been allowed to squander our critical resources, further undermining our war fighting and defence capacity.

As we await Defence Minister Angie Motshekga’s appearance before SCOPA, ActionSA will be fighting to ensure that she is held accountable for the specific steps she intends to take against corruption, mismanagement and incompetence within her department and related entities whose treasonous conduct has gravely compromised our national security and defense force personnel.

Issued by ActionSA Member of Parliament Alan Beesley