Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Angie Motshekga. Picture: File
Parliamentarians are up in arms after an urgent portfolio committee briefing meant to update them about the death of South African troops in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was cancelled at the 11th hour on Tuesday.
The Citizen understands that the meeting was supposed to happen on Wednesday morning.
Parliamentarians still in recess flew in from all over the country to Cape Town for the sitting.
However, at 10:30 pm on Tuesday, they received a message informing them that the meeting had been cancelled.
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Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga is also expected to brief the nation on the deaths of 13 South African troops who were part of the peacekeeping efforts in the DRC.
Speaking to The Citizen on Wednesday, EFF MP Carl Niehaus alleged the meeting had been cancelled to shield Motshekga from answering questions from MPs.
“The cancellation is meant to avoid accountability. She does not want to face critical questions about the failure to deal with the situation in the DRC,” he said.
Niehaus said he had informed the minister in a parliamentary sitting that keeping South African troops in the DRC is a bad idea.
He said this deployment had many problems, including a lack of resources and food for the soldiers.
“She [Angie] knows that when she has to face the committee members, she will be exposed for her failures. We have already engaged her in many meetings last year.”
Niehaus said he is further concerned about how ANC MPs are allegedly protecting each other over the matter.
Niehaus said critical questions have to be raised about why South African troops are in the DRC and what interests South Africa has there.
“The real question is who has mining and business interests? Is this mission about the ANC and their interests?” he asked.
The DRC is said to have untapped gold, cobalt and high-grade copper reserves.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula on Tuesday dismissed allegations that the SANDF was deployed to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to protect the business interests of certain individuals.
“It did not need our army to go and protect their interests. We have been in the eastern DRC for a specific purpose,” said Mbalula.
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“The fact that we have now realised casualties in the DRC is unfortunate that our soldiers died there, but they’re brave and must be celebrated because they died on duty for the Pan-Africanist cause. They did not die there because they were protecting the minerals of somebody. Our people must not be misled.”
The SANDF has also previously dismissed the allegations.
“The SANDF wishes to state categorically that the claims are far from the truth and thumb-sucking by those who are bent on besmirching the good name of the SANDF, in particular the government of South Africa.
“We reject the article in its entirety as hogwash with the contempt it deserves. The article has no credibility and is not worth the paper it is written”.
Niehaus said he is also concerned about underfunding the South African National Defense Force (SANDF).
He said this means the army cannot be as strong as it should be.
The Citizen has seen a message from Niehaus to the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans chairperson Molefi Legoete regarding the matter.
In his message, he complained about the costs of flying parliamentarians to Cape Town and cancelling the meeting.
He also said he would sit in parliament, where the meeting was supposed to take place, as a sign of protest.
“I will be at the venue for the committee tomorrow at 10:00, as scheduled. I expect the meeting to go ahead.”
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Additional reporting by Vhahangwele Nemakonde
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