Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) has taken Minister in the Presidency, Jeff Radebe, to task for late submission of National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) reports.
A statement issued on behalf of the committee by Parliamentary Communication Services quotes JSCD co-chairman Musawenkosi Mlambo as saying late submission of information must be rectified. He said the JSCD received the NCACC presentation “late” on Thursday for its Friday meeting.
“The standard practice in Parliament is that committees are sent presentations between four and seven days in advance to enable MPs to prepare for an engagement with any of the government departments and entities. Despite this the committee accepted an apology from the NCACC as led by Radebe.”
Mlambo goes on to thank the NCACC for “without fail” communicating and sharing its reports with Parliament “as per legislative requirements”.
“Due to the long lay-off for the 2016 municipal elections the JSCD has not had the opportunity to engage these reports, but has resolved to make an effort to continuously engage with the NCACC.”
The only report quoted in the statements is for the second quarter of 2016 but indications are last year’s annual report as well as other outstanding quarterly reports were also tabled.
South Africa voluntarily submits the NCACC annual report to the UN’s Register of Conventional Arms while it and the quarterly reports provide an oversight mechanism on the local defence industry and, particularly, its activities outside the country.
In this regards Mlambo welcomed “the steady increase” in defence exports for the second quarter of this year. He quotes an amount of R885 875 277 saying it “points to growth in the South African defence industry which will create much-needed job opportunities”.
He said the JSCD was “reassured the NCACC continues to be grounded in domestic law and in harmony with treaties and conventions”.
