The DA welcomes the revelation today in Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence, that the DRC calamity may soon be subjected to a board of inquiry.
This was revealed by Deputy Minister Bantu Holomisa, because Minister Motshekga snubbed Parliament today and chose instead to travel to Russia for a military celebration.
The Democratic Alliance strongly condemns Minister Angie Motshekga’s repeated refusal to account before the Joint Standing Committee on Defence.
In the absence of the Minister, scant information was shared with the Committee today by the senior leadership of the South African National Defence Force and more questions than answers remain.
What is of serious concern is that our troops are in no way safe and secure yet – the seemingly poor logistical planning of the withdrawal from the Democratic Republic of the Congo could leave our troops further exposed in an increasingly hostile conflict environment.
Despite posing probing questions on the logistical aspects of the withdrawal, these questions could not be answered as no SANDF Chief of Logistics was present in the meeting today, despite it being scheduled weeks in advance.
Furthermore, the SANDF contributed a total of R1.6 billion to the DRC SAMIDRC mission, in terms of equipment, personnel, and military costs. The SANDF in today’s committee, however, could provide no definitive answer as to how much weaponry and equipment was either lost or damaged as part of the mission in the DRC.
It is high time that the truth of the DRC calamity comes out, and that the families of our brave fallen soldiers may know what happened to their loved ones.
Those who lead our soldiers to their peril must be held accountable and brought to book where necessary.